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| OOTP 24 - Historical & Fictional Simulations Discuss historical and fictional simulations and their results in this forum. |
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04-07-2023, 10:07 AM
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#1 |
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All Star Starter
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Can the Mets Keep the Miracle Going After 1969?
Hi everybody,
I don't know how to move a thread to the 24 game Forum, so I am just cutting and pasting the previous posts and then will post the 1972 (new) material: Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Old 03-18-2023, 05:12 AM #1 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 Can the Mets keep the Miracle going after 1969? 1969 was the first year I followed baseball fan, and even though I was a Yankees fan (RIP Joe Pepitone), it was impossible to grow up in the NY area and not be caught up in the excitement of the Miracle Mets. After 1969, the team showed it was not quite a fluke (that 1969 team is very under-rated historically in my view, winning 100 games, sweeping the Braves and then taking four straight from the historically awesome Orioles after losing the first game of the World Series), by contending for some years after that. They even sneaked into another pennant in 1973, though barely breaking .500. Still, there is a sense that more was possible: After all, in the worst trade not involving Babe Ruth they traded Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi who was washed up by that point. They had Ken Singleton and Tim Foli on their 1970 roster. What might have been? I have decided to start playing the Mets beginning in the 1970 season with a few rules: 1. Don't trade Ryan, Singleton or Foli 2. Don't trade Seaver or Koosman or Tug McGraw 3. Ed Kranepool MUST play out his career as a Met. He is THE career Met player after all as this great Don Lagreca rant - THE GREATEST polemic by anyone ever on any subject, makes clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnzgpbE3xrE 4. Try to keep Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, Tommie Agee and Cleon Jones even into being useful bench players if at all possible. 5. No unfair or uneasonable trades with the AI (Houston keeps trying to trade me Doug Rader for not enough in return. This leaves Mike Jorgenson and maybe some bench players as tradeable commodities to improve the team. But the Mets, like the 70s Astros or the Indians are better if they don't trade then if they do in most cases. Obviously, the principle at work here is to have a Big Three of Seaver, Ryan and Koosman with Tug McGraw in the bullpen. Also, the team must continue to be at core the team of the 1969-early 70s Mets. A trade here or there, a substitution, but without Kranepool, Harrelson, Grote, Agee and Cleon it is not the Mets any longer, at least for a few years. At least through 1973-4 I would say. With Foli and Singleton able to pick up the slack in the next few seasons, there is good reason to think the team can be strong. For now, RF is the Shamsky/Swoboda platoon, and 1B is Clendennon and Kranepool. Wayne Garrett and Joe Foy is the 3B platoon and Garrett is ok, we need a better RH 3B or else a trade of both for a full time 3B. Not sure which to go with. We'll see what's offered. I have injuries on, 3-year recalc, player development off and the same with all the clubhouse/team morale/personality stuff, off, Finances off. Five rounds of new player draft. Trades are set to two clicks more difficult than center and also for preference for prospects. Here goes. Last edited by italyprof; 03-18-2023 at 05:36 AM. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 05:42 AM #2 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 In a slight variation history, I got Rusty Staub and Balor Moore in exchange for Mike Jorgensen,Rich Folkers, Jim McAndrew and Rod Gaspar. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 05:48 AM #3 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 So Staub will start in RF and Shamsky and Swoboda now become bench strength - LH and RH pinch hitters and back up OFs. Moore will be a starter in the near future and a spot starter in the meantime. Ryan will replace McAndrew in the rotation. Ray Sadecki is on the roster to start 1970 and will be the fifth starter after Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, Gentry. The bullpen is Don Cardwell who is also emergency SP, McGraw, Frisella, Ron Taylor and Cal Koonce. I also picked up Marv Staehle in the trade. A major weakness is that Moore is the ONLY pitcher in the minors. I need to make another trade to have some P backup in the minors (I am using AAA, AA and A minors instead of a reserve list). Last edited by italyprof; 03-18-2023 at 05:59 AM. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 06:00 AM #4 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 I was able to trade Staehle for Jim Bouton - not a great pickup, but if we need a Starter in case of injury he can make a few starts. If someone goes down for the season, he won't be adequate and I will need to trade real value for value. But for now that gives us a little more depth. Plus he is just coming off his "Ball Four" season, another thing linked to 1969. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 05:48 PM #5 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 Well, after Don Cardwell went down for 6-8 months, showing that the Bouton trade was useful as the latter is now our long relief spot starter guy, Jerry Koosman was injured for the rest of the season with our record 22-21. This is a major hit of course. I had no choice but to trade the last tradeable asset we have without cutting into our real core team - minor league SS Ted Martinez, getting Tony Cloninger from the Reds. So Cloninger with some starts by Bouton will have to cover Koosman's spot in the rotation for 1970. Ugh. The Big Three experiment has not yet gotten off the ground. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 06:03 PM #6 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 Gary Gentry then went down for a month! The whole thing looked hopeless for 1970, and indeed about midway we were 13 back of the Pirates. But...far from being washed up, Jim Bouton went an astounding 8-3 with a 3.96 ERA and Tony Cloninger a respectable 8-9 with a 4.50 ERA and with our record at 83-67 and us having pulled to withing 7 of Pittsburgh with 12 games to go, Gary Gentry came off the injured list. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 06:06 PM #7 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 With 8 games left to play, we are 6 and a half back. Still alive. Unlikely that we can make it up and catch the Pirates, but this team just pulled off a Miracle one season ago, so who knows? But clearly, had we had Koosman all season, we would have been right in the midst of the pennant race. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 06:12 PM #8 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 We ended up 91-71, six games back of the Pirates, in second place. Along with the Pirates, the Orioles, Royals and Giants won their divisions. The Big Red Machine came in third in the NL West. Mets highlights: Staub hit 24 homers, though only .249, Tommy Agee .274 18 homers, Cleon Jones .291 14 HRs, Donn Clendenon led the team with 31 HRs. Seaver went 20-5, 3.11 ERA, Nolan Ryan 14-9, Bouton 8-5, Gentry 10-12, Sadecki 8-10. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 06:16 PM #9 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 Elsewhere, true to life, Alex Johnson .352, and Rico Carty .340 won the batting titles. Lee May of Cincinnati and Frank Howard of Washington each hit 43 homers to lead each league. Reggie and Harmon hit 40. Vida Blue won 17 and Mike Cuellar had 16 Complete Games, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry each won 19 for SF. Seaver and Sudden Sam McDowell had the most Ks in each league, 236 and 247 respectively. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 06:16 PM #10 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 The Pirates swept the Orioles in the World Series of 1970. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 06:27 PM #11 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 In the first-year player draft, Jon Matlack got drafted before we got a chance to pick, The quality fell sharply after that. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 07:01 PM #12 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 Traded Dave Marshall OF for Danny Cater to get more depth at 3rd base. I will platoon him and Wayne Garrett. With Koosman back, our Big Three rotation is set again for 1971, with Gary Gentry and Ray Sadecki holding the 4 and 5 spots. Should either faulter, Doyle Alexander, Jim Barr, Tony Cloninger and maybe Jim Bouton of Ball Four and knuckleball fame are there to take up the slack. In the meantime, Doyle and Tony will be in the bullpen, along with Tug, Taylor and Frisella. The others will be in AAA unless needed in NY. We are going to need a CF after this season as Agee will only really be a backup after that. Not sure how to make that happen. Singleton and Staub and Jones are all natural LF, RFers. Cleon, with good range, may have to be the default CF in 1972-3, but we have time before then, and for now it's Cleon, Agee and Staub in the OF, with a good bench of Singleton, Shamsky and Swoboda, though only Swoboda has any CF ratings. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 07:07 PM #13 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 I stupidly left the team with only Grote and Duffy Dyer as catchers. Grote was injured in Spring training 1971 and is out for two weeks. So I traded Al Weis for John Roseboro. He and Dyer will share the catching in the first week or so of the season. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-18-2023, 10:15 PM #14 Brad K Hall Of Famer Brad K's Avatar Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 4,024 Infractions: 0/1 (1) Quote: Originally Posted by italyprof View Post We ended up 91-71, six games back of the Pirates, in second place. Along with the Pirates, the Orioles, Royals and Giants won their divisions. The Big Red Machine came in third in the NL West. Mets highlights: Staub hit 24 homers, though only .249, Tommy Agee .274 18 homers, Cleon Jones .291 14 HRs, Donn Clendenon led the team with 31 HRs. Seaver went 20-5, 3.11 ERA, Nolan Ryan 14-9, Bouton 8-5, Gentry 10-12, Sadecki 8-10. I've found a cheap veteran player who has an unexpectedly good year is an important part of success. Nice to see Clendenon hit 31. HIs best RL season was 28 of which 25 were on the road and only 3 at Forbes Field. __________________ Pirates Play Moneyball 1951 to ???? Brad K is offline Report Post Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-20-2023, 05:58 AM #15 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 Thanks BradK, good point. I will post the '71 season in a few days. Traveling for work today and tomorrow. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-20-2023, 10:46 AM #16 Edster007 All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,597 Following this with interest. The first game I ever attended was in August of 70 at Shea. The Mets dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Padres on Banner Day. Besides the two loses, I was disappointed to not see Seaver or Koosman pitch. The Mets were shutout in the first game and were tied at 2 heading to the 8th inning of game two when the Padres hit 2 solo homeruns and went on to win 4-2 Edster007 is offline Report Post Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 10:39 AM #17 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 The Mets started the season in the pennant race for 1971, with the Phillies and Pittsburgh also starting out strong. Then, with their record 18-13, Tug McGraw went down with an injury for four months. Meaning he is out till mid-September. A serious blow. Balor Moore is called up to be our LH reliever and Taylor is back as stopper. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 10:45 AM #18 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 We've stayed right on the heels of the Pirates led by Roberto Clemente who leads the league in batting at .366 and RBI at 36, for all of May, finding ourselves 2 1/2 back on June 1 with a record of 29-20. Seaver is 9-1 with a 2.51 ERA, but Koosman and Ryan are struggling, with a combined 9-8 and ERAs around 4.00. Our second best so far is Gentry at 6-2 with a 2.69 ERA, and only Frisella has been effective in the pen, so he is now listed as Stopper. All 6 OFs have started out hitting well, either with avg. or power or both. Foli has done well as backup to all three non 1B IF positions. So, some good signs. But we need to bullpen and our 2 and 3 starters to get hot. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:01 AM #19 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 At the end of June, the Phillies offered us Jim Bunning for Ed Kranepool. But I can't trade Kranepool - it's one of the rules - the team has to still resemble the Mets, even if I make some personnel changes here and there. Anyway, Bunning, once excellent, and I think he pitched a no-hitter against the Mets at one point, forget the year, is not any better right now than any of our own five starters. So we said no. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:15 AM #20 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 903 At the start of July, we were still in 2nd, but now 6 and a half back, 7 in the loss column. But things looked up in many ways: all five bullpen guys had ERAs under 4.00, and the rotation went like this: Seaver 12-3 2.67 Koosman 8-5 3.58 Ryan 4-9 4.01 Gentry 9-3 2.57 Sadecki 4-6 3.95 Clendennon and Kranepool were each hitting over .280 with 9 homers between them. Cleon .295 7 homers. Young rookie Singleton .286, Agee .266 11 HR, Staub .247 9 homers, Shamsky .233 5 HR, Swobody .261 but no HR. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Reply Page 1 of 2 1 2 > BOOKMARKS ShareFacebookTwitterReddit EDIT TAGSTAGS |
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04-07-2023, 10:09 AM
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All Star Starter
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So, 1972, this league now transferred to the OOTP24 game.
We managed to trade Jim Northrup for Bobby Darwin, so as to have a 1B platoon with Kranepool, since Darwin is RH. Our rotation is now ready: Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, Jim Barr and Doyle Alexander - our draft picks now showing up. Tug McGraw is our Stopper, Frisella the setup man, and Gary Gentry the long relief-spot starter. |
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04-07-2023, 10:16 AM
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All Star Starter
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The OF is now messy, as Cleon Jones and Tommie Agee, while still productive, are now really part-time players at this point and make for a good RH bench or platoons. Rusty Staub should be in RF, but in 1972 he apparently was injured a good part of the season, so with 3-year recalc but doubling the current season, and him having fewer than 300 AB, even he is a question mark, and Ken Singleton is now a full-time player though, which is a great help. Elliott Maddox will start in CF more often than not, and Leroy Stanton is also available. We still have Ron Swoboda, but I might send him down to AAA join his former platoon partner Art Shamsky,to be called up for emergencies.
3B will also be a platoon, with Celerino Sanchez against LH pitchers and Wayne Garrett against RHers. Tim Foli is a definite upgrade at 2B compared with Boswell who is now a good bench-LH pinch hitter. Bud Harrelson is still at SS. Grote still catching.with Duffy Dyer as backup. So, our team is: vs. RH pitchers: C Grote 1B Kranepool 2B Foli 3B Garrett SS Harrelson LF Singleton (backup Cleon Jones) CF Maddox (Agee every 3rd game) RF Staub (backup Darwin or Swoboda or Stanton). Lineup: Maddox Foli Singleton Staub Kranepool Garrett Grote Harrelson Against LH pitchers: C Grote 1B Darwin 2B Foli 3B Sanchez SS Harrelson LF Cleon Jones CF Maddox/Agee RF Singleton Lineup: Maddox Foli Singleton Darwin Jones Sanchez Grote Harrelson Bring on 1972! Last edited by italyprof; 04-07-2023 at 10:25 AM. |
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04-07-2023, 10:42 AM
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All Star Starter
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On May 22, we are 20-19. Above .500 but we hoped for better at this point.
We are two and a half games back of the Cubs, and one and one-half behind St. Louis and Pittsburgh. The big three starters, Seaver, Koosman and Ryan have ERAs well below 3.00, Barr and Alexander ERAs a little over 4.00. The bullpen has performed well. Foli and Celerino Sanchez are hitting well over .300. Kranepool .291. But Darwin is at .154 ! Will this platoon work? Maddox is only hitting .224 and Agee below .200. Staub's .565 (!) makes up for a lot though. |
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04-07-2023, 10:48 AM
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
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On July 1 we are 35-40, still in fourth place, 8 games back. Even the crosstown Yankees are two games above .500.
Alexander is 4-9 ERA at 4.22, which is not awful for a fifth starter, but Barr's ERA is over 5.00. I have replaced him in the rotation with Gary Gentry, who has been superb in relief. The rest of the bullpen has likewise been awesome. Darwin is hitting .289, Kranepool .278. but only 6 homers between them. Foli and Sanchez are around .230.Singleton and Staub at .270ish. In other words, almost everyone went into a slump at the same time except Darwin and Grote, hitting .286. |
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04-07-2023, 10:52 AM
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All Star Starter
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July began with a nice winning streak, but by August 1 we are 51-51, still in fourth place, but only 5 games out. We are still in this. It has stayed Cubs, Cards, Pirates, Mets all season long in that order.
Singleton and Staub, each with 6 homers lead the team in that category. Lack of power is our big weakness. The rotation and bullpen are our big strengths. In other words, we are the late 60s, early 70s Mets. |
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04-07-2023, 10:57 AM
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All Star Starter
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The Cubbies finally went on their inevitable losing streak (1970s Cubs remember) and slid below the Cards and Pirates. We remain in fourth with a 65-64 record as of September 1.The Yankees are 66-65. That kind of year for NY fans.
Tigers, KC and Astros lead the other divisions with a month to go. Nate Colbert's 36 home runs leads the majors, one ahead of Mr. Henry Aaron. In desparation I have moved Agee to CF full time, as Maddox is hitting .206, and Agee has been hot, and put Celerino Sanchez, hitting 242, in full time at 3B since Garrett is hitting below .200. |
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04-07-2023, 11:08 AM
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
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We briefly passed the Cubs at mid-September, but we ended the season with another losing streak.
We went 78-84 on the season, a fourth-place team almost every day all year except for that mid-September flourish. St. Louis wins the Division and the Dodgers came on strong in the end to overtake the Astros. KC and Detroit win the AL divisions, though the Yankees mirror-imaged us to go 84-78 and come in a distant second. Amos Otis and Tommy Helms each hit .318 to lead their respective leagues in batting. At .317, Aaron missed a Triple Crown season by ONE POINT! He hit 43 homers and drove in 122 runs. Killebrew beat out Reggie for the HR crown in the AL at 32 to 30 and Bobby Murcer led the American League in RBI with 103. Mickey Lolich won 22 games to lead the Tigers and the league. Our records: Seaver 19-8 2.70 Koosman 16-12 2.30 Ryan 10-12 2.39 Gentry 7-6 2.03 Alexander 6-18 4.00 Grote .246 Kranepool .272 7 HR Darwin .288 8 HR Foli .240 Sanchez .271 Garrett .195 Harrelson .251 Cleon Jones .283 7 HR Agee .222 6 HR, Maddox .218 Singleton.267 11 HR Staub .264 9 HR So, very little offense, mostly very good pitching, a disappointing result. Will post our 1972 new player draft picks and 1973 strategy and season soon, but likely after the Sunday Easter holiday as in Italy that means visiting the wife's family. Happy Holidays all! |
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04-07-2023, 02:53 PM
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Banned
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Location: St Petersburg Florida USA
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Quote:
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04-08-2023, 11:08 AM
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Quote:
Thanks. Which actual persons? |
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04-08-2023, 10:13 PM
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Banned
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Quote:
Anyway you can look around at the posts and see who is identified as a moderator. For me the easy way is to look at my private messages and PM the moderator who sent the last violation notice. LOL. |
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04-09-2023, 05:51 AM
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All Star Starter
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Thanks!
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04-14-2023, 06:17 AM
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All Star Starter
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Quote:
By August 1 we had pulled to within 4 of the Pirates, at 63-42. The Phillies at 13 back had dropped out of the race. Meanwhile the Orioles and Twins led in the AL divisions, though Oakland was 3 back of the latter, and the NL West also was close with Houston a game ahead of the Dodgers. Houston's Bob Watson was now the NL batting leader at .329. Henry Aaron's league-leading 25 home runs had Atlanta in 3rd 8 games back. Seaver was now 16-4, Koosman 10-8, Gentry 11-5, Ryan 8-10 and Sadecki 9-7. The bullpen, including young Doyle Alexander whom we got in a late draft round, were all improved, except Frisella whose ERA, at a full run higher than Taylor's meant we again switched the two of them. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:29 AM #22 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 On August 13th, two pieces of good news! - Tug McGraw was finally off the DL, and the Mets had caught and passed the Pirates to find ourselves alone in first place! I sent Frisella down to the minors, as his ERA had ballooned, and with Taylor's now at 2.18, I kept him as Stopper and made Tug setup 6th inning or later, and as the secondary Stopper. This might be enough to pull it off ! italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:32 AM #23 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 By Sept. 7 were 5 games up on Pittsburgh, with our record standing at 88-53. Pittsburgh's Matty Alou now led the batting race at .342, with Clemente third at .319. It wasn't enough so far to keep up with us though. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:33 AM #24 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Meanwhile Catfish Hunter and Vida Blue combined for 36 wins by the first week of September to put the As out in front of the AL West. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:34 AM #25 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Cesar Cedeno, second in RBI, and Joe Morgan, second in stolen bases to Bobby Tolan, were keeping Houston ahead of the Dodgers. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:39 AM #26 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 And so ended the 1971 season on October 1: AL East: Baltimore Orioles 97-65, 13 games ahead of the Tigers and 19 ahead of the Yankees AL West: Oakland Athletics 104-58 - Catfish went 22-6 and Blue 19-10. Minnesota ended up with 98 wins but not enough. KC came in a distant third. NL East: The New York Mets went 98-64, to finish 5 games ahead of Pittsburgh and win the division. The Phillies went 81-81 to end up third, a game ahead of the Cards. NL West: Houston Astros 91-71, 3 better than LA and 9 better than SF. So, Mets, vs. Houston - two expansion teams, just 9 years after both entered the league, for the NL Pennant! italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:44 AM #27 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 I am going with a three-man rotation for the playoffs, with Tug back at stopper, Moore as the setup man (2.01 ERA), and Doyle Alexander as the secondary stopper and long man. Game 1 will be Seaver (19-8) against Ken Forsch (13-10), then Koosman 14-11 against Billingham 12-13, then Gentry 15-9 against Don Wilson, then Seaver against Scipio Spinks 11-9 in game 4. We open in NY. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:54 AM #28 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Seaver only gave up 4 hits, but three runs over 8 innings. Forsch pitched a 3-hit complete game shutout. We are down 1-0. HISTORY IS MADE! Jerry Koosman pitches only the second postseason no-hitter in baseball history to win game two for the Mets 3-0! Jerry walked three and struck out 8, going all the way. Koosman had an RBI single as well. We are tied 1-1. Home runs by Joe Pepitone (RIP !) and Jim Wynn propel Houston to a 5-1 game 3 win. In game 4, Wynn and Joe Morgan who ends up as series MVP, break open a 2-2 tie in the sixth against Tom Seaver and the Astros win the NL pennant 3 games to one. In the AL, the first four games ended up 4-3 going Baltimore, Oakland, Oakland, Baltimore and then in the deciding game 5 the Orioles won 1-0 as Woody Fryman outpitched Vida Blue and series MVP catcher Chuck Hinton got three hits including the winning RBI. So: Orioles versus Astros in the 1971 World Series. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:55 AM #29 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 The powerful Orioles easily defeated the Astros 4 games to 1, in a series of mostly high-scoring games. Boog Powell ended up Series MVP. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 11:59 AM #30 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Aaron 32 homers and Jim Hickman 29 homers led each league - low totals really. Matty Alou hit .342 and Tony Oliva .325 to win the batting titles. Lou Brock stole 60 bases. For Oakland, Hunter and Blue had 32 complete games (REMEMER THOSE ANYONE?!) between them, and Seaver pitched 7 shutouts (remember those - credited to ONE pitcher? - I miss baseball) . Sutton, Jenkins and Carlton had 24,22 and 21 Complete games respectively in the NL. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 12:01 PM #31 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Priority for the draft is a first-baseman: Clendennon hit 10 homers and Kranepool 9. Okay but they are both slowing down. Second base looks to go to Foli in 1972. We would like to upgrade at third as well, and Grote is great defensively but can't catch forever. And no one ever has enough pitching. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 12:11 PM #32 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Tough choices faced us in the draft. We were tempted to go with Steve Yeager a catcher, or Ken Reitz who plays third, both available probably earlier than our eventual first pick, Enos Cabell. Enos (here I cheat and look at real life stats) plays longer and better than the others and he plays both first and third. In round 2 we saw that Goose Gossage was available so we grabbed him. I have some second thoughts since we forwent another batter, and we might have at least gotten Celerino Sanchez to platoon with Garrett at third, but it means we have a bullpen of Tug McGraw lefty and Gossage righty for the next who knows how many years. Third pick was a catcher, Joe Goddard, not much value, and the other two rounds got us filler and not much more. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-22-2023, 12:12 PM #33 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Will post 1972 some time soon, Stay tuned: same bat (and ball) time, same bat (and ball) station! (If you are old enough, you get the joke and reference). italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-23-2023, 05:06 AM #34 Brad K Hall Of Famer Brad K's Avatar Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 4,062 Infractions: 0/1 (1) Quote: Originally Posted by italyprof View Post Aaron 32 homers and Jim Hickman 29 homers led each league - low totals really. Matty Alou hit .342 and Tony Oliva .325 to win the batting titles. Lou Brock stole 60 bases. If I recall an earlier post correctly Alou is still with the Pirates. What position is he playing? Surely by this point hitting .342 isn't enough to make up for his poor fielding in CF. Are you doing to continue playing Kranepool? __________________ Pirates Play Moneyball 1951 to ???? Brad K is offline Report Post Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-25-2023, 11:07 AM #35 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Quote: Originally Posted by Brad K View Post If I recall an earlier post correctly Alou is still with the Pirates. What position is he playing? Surely by this point hitting .342 isn't enough to make up for his poor fielding in CF. Are you doing to continue playing Kranepool? Alou is listed at 1B for the Pirates. As for Kranepool - he and Clendennon both decline at this point, though Kranepool remains a good LH batter/backup at 1B/OF and pinch hitter. Maybe a platoon player if needed, which for the moment is the case. I need a 1B, ideally this year. Had a good draft, in that we got Cabell, but he won't be ready for a few years. Then we traded Danny Cater who I had from some previous transaction, for Jim Northrup and Elliott Maddux, the latter solves our immediate CF issue and the former will likely play 1B as often as anyone else. So it's 1B by committee for now. I know that the real-life Mets traded Seaver, and Koosman, so technically anything goes, but I feel like it's not the Mets I am managing if I suddenly have a bunch of ex-Reds, Dodgers, Giants, etc. and no Kranepool, Cleon, Grote, Harrelson on the team. Kind of defeats the purpose if by "Mets" I mean the Big Red Machine and Oakland As. I know it's a fuzzy standard, as I allow myself to trade some but not others. But I think I have a sense at least up the mid-70s where the line is. After that,not sure. I have already gotten one extra LCS appearance before '73. If I can get another up to or including '73, that means I did better than RL. If we don't at least make another LCS by then, since in real life the Mets came within one game of winning the World Series a second time, I won't have done as well. And really I should be aiming to at least get into the Series in the next two seasons. After that I admit that as a Yankees fan I lost track of how the Mets were doing as my own favorite team had a very successful and interesting bunch, and then just when they started to get boring around 82 without Reggie, they got Mattingly in the second half of '83 and so on. I will check the historical record but think that the late 70s and first years of the 80s were tough times for Mets fans, but by 1984 they were fun again, the most fun of any team maybe I can recall ever, you could see them coming already by '84. What will fate hold for my version? We shall see. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 03-30-2023, 10:29 AM #36 Brad K Hall Of Famer Brad K's Avatar Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 4,062 Infractions: 0/1 (1) Quote: Originally Posted by italyprof View Post Alou is listed at 1B for the Pirates. As for Kranepool - he and Clendennon both decline at this point, though Kranepool remains a good LH batter/backup at 1B/OF and pinch hitter. Thanks for the info on Alou. I couldn't imagine the Pirates keeping him in CF this late but AI does some strange stuff. I realize it's hard to accumulate WAR playing 1B but at 18 years Kranepool might have the longest career of any 4.2 WAR player. I agree with you wanting to have a team that feels like the Mets. I use actual photos and I like to see lots of Pirate caps when I look at the roster! If you haven't noticed, luckmann has enacted a program to increase the number of real life Pirates in his Pirates save. __________________ Pirates Play Moneyball 1951 to ???? Last edited by Brad K; 03-30-2023 at 10:32 AM. Brad K is offline Report Post Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Old 04-04-2023, 09:24 AM #37 italyprof All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 931 Hi all. I haven't left off on this, just been traveling for work. I will have some time home soon and get back to it and posting about it. italyprof is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Reply |
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04-14-2023, 06:20 AM
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So, having won an additional division title in 1971, but following it with a disappointing 1972 season, we are now come to the first real test: 1973, when the Mets surprisingly pulled from behind and won the NL pennant - albeit with a record just over .500, and defeated the Big Red Machine to win the NLCS. They went on to take the powerful As to 7 games before losing the Series.
So, IF we win the NL pennant in 1973, I will be ahead of the RL Mets. If not, even two division wins don't add up to a league pennant and I will consider myself behind the curve, but with all the time up to 1986 to make it up by winning two between '73 and '86. Let's see how 1973 goes: |
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04-14-2023, 06:46 AM
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We lucked out when Dave Parker was still available for round 1. He will play first base, backed up by the ubiquitous Kranepool. We got Wayne Garland in round 2 and Doug Bird in round 3, 2nd baseman Tom Heintzelman in round 4 and Catcher Bob Davis in round 5. I feel that we have strengthened the team going into 1973. Cabell is now up with the big league team and can be a backup at 3rd and 1st. And we have a third catcher and depth for the bullpen, with our rotation the big three of Seaver, Koosman and Ryan with Doyle Alexander and Jim Barr our 4 and 5 starters. Here goes.
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04-14-2023, 07:00 AM
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The NL East lead see-sawed back and forth between NY and Pittsburgh for all of April. We find ourselves tied with St. Louis for second place on May 1, 2 and a half behind the PIrates.
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04-14-2023, 07:01 AM
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Seaver, Barr, Sadecki and Bird all have inflated ERAs. Let's hope the warm weather straightens things out. Dave Parker is hitting .341 as a rookie and Staub is also hitting well. But Bobby Darwin is around .200.
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04-14-2023, 07:06 AM
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We are 24-25 on June 1, in third behind Pitt. and St. L, but 7 games back!
Seaver and Barr have their ERAs down, but Sadecki and Bird are still struggling. Strangely for a 70s Mets team, we are doing better offensively- Staub is putting up MVP type numbers, young Parker is hitting .295 but no HRs so far, Singleton, Darwin and Garrett have 5 homers each, though the latter is at .209, well below the other two's .250ish averages. Kranepool is hitting .299 sharing 1B with Parker. So that is a productive platoon. |
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04-14-2023, 07:08 AM
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Nearing the midway point in the season, we have not yet put together a real winning streak. We win 2-3 in a row then lose two straight. We are now at 40-36, still 7 games back of the same two division leaders who are now almost neck and neck.
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04-14-2023, 07:11 AM
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Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - he was referring to the US Supreme Court, so that is quite current. But I digress. We have been foolishly consistent: We are STILL in third place, which it seems we have spent two full seasons in now, and are a full 10 games back of the two leaders. Our record is 53-53 on July 31. Ugh. Can we pull of a miracle as the real-life Tug McGraw Mets did?
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