What are your best examples of awful luck in OOTP??

[MightyVotto]

Just experienced a terrible luck event in my current attempt to rebuild the absolutely terrible Cincinnati Reds. It made me wonder what other stories are out there in the OOTP community.

Mine is that I just managed to trade Jay Bruce and Billy Hamilton to the Dodgers for Scott Kazmir and Walker Buehler. Buehler becomes the top ranked prospect in my system right away. During his first minor league start for me, though, he pitches 3 innings and suffers a ruptured disc. Out for 6-7 months. Immediate bad returns on that trade due to luck. Ouch. See you next year Walker. At least I unloaded Bruce's awful contract and his .180 batting average.

[camerainmyhand]

I trying out a few different settings and started a few different leagues to see what I was interested in doing.

I started a 1993 historic league, looking to see if I could manage the Braves to more than one World Series win (I chose 1993 so that Maddux is on the team). I put myself as "Manager Only", so I have no control over the roster moves - and then I intend to play out the games.

Bad luck #1 - before the regular season even began, the GM shipped off Chipper Jones (rookie year) for some 35 year old has-been.

So then I decided, how about I try a 1946 season with the Brooklyn Dodgers - with historic minors, so I could how that plays out. Same deal, Manage Only, intend to play out games...

Bad luck #2 - Before the regular season begins, the GM ships off Jackie Robinson for Joe Grace and Owen Friend - not horrible players, but...

I have also done a random debut historical where my GM drafted 22 year old Clayton Kershaw...and then traded him away after three starts.

So, I have to assume that the AI can read my mind and knows what players I am excited to have on the field - and then trades them away.

[ohiodevil]

I have a couple....

I signed Mark Trumbo to my expansion team originally as a stopgap at 1b/DH and he turned out to be a good player, averaging 28 homers and 90 RBIs in his three seasons with me. I was still rebuilding and traded him (and some backup catcher) to the Rockies for 4 prospects, including two of the top 15 pitching prospects in baseball. One of those guys made the jump from Double-A to the majors and he went down throwing his first pitch in his first start for 11 months. The other pitcher made two starts at Double-A and in his third, he was injured and was out 8-9 months.Neither guy ever lived up to their potential and both were gone over the next two seasons.

In another league I did the opposite, I mortgaged the farm (gave up my top 6 prospects) to acquire a top starting pitcher and outfielder to make a run at the World Series. The outfielder was hurt running to third in his 4th game with me and missed the rest of the season with an ankle injury, and the starting pitcher went down in his 3rd start and ended up retiring at the end of the season. Needless to say, I was relieved of my GM duties two years later after two 90+ loss seasons and a minor league system ranked 29th.

[TribeFanInNC]

Basically anytime a wild pitch scores a run.

[Silent_Thunder]

A few years back there was a Tanaka tier Japanese player on the posting system, and at the age of only 22 to boot. I was playing as the Mets at the time, so it cost almost all I had to secure him. His first season he takes a beanball that causes a career ending brain injury.

That said the posting system is so much more fun now than back then, now that the players can be "real". If you don't have the power to just run every league, I really recommend loading the Japanese and Korean leagues plus the indy leagues, to get the true MLB posting experience.

[OBSL Commish]

I started a league with an inaugural draft and got Kenley Jansen in the 8th round. Around the trading deadline, I was in a dead heat with the Pirates for 1st place (I'm the Cardinals) and decided to trade Jansen and his 4.86 ERA for an upgrade. Boston agreed to trade Craig Kimbrel and his 1.71 ERA to me for Jansen and a mid-range prospect. I jump on the offer, even though Kimbrel is making $7 million more a year than Jansen and I'm strapped for cash, and Kimbrel gets six saves for me in the first 10 days. Then he blows his UCL out and he's gone for 11-12 months. I make the playoffs as a wild card but get bumped in the wild card playoff by San Diego. Meanwhile, Jansen ends up saving 22 games the rest of the season in Boston, posting a 1.42 ERA as well, and helps the Red Sox to the ALCS.

[slic1149]

I started a historical league in 1942. I wanted to let the AI react like WWll never happened. It was my intention to sim up to 1947 and take over the Brooklyn Dodgers. I really wanted to manage Jackie Robinson. I was set to take over as GM & manager on Jan 1, 1947 only to discover the Dodgers had traded Robinson to the Giants in October of 1946. I was more than mildly irritated, but I am going to stick with my original plan of managing the Dodgers for the next 20 years.

[scott1964]

The Chicago White Stockings and Terry Larkin happened

[andjbock]

This isn't awful luck (yet), but my first round pick has started his pro career batting 0-33 with 17 k's

[Steve509]

I lost a no hitter with the Oakland A's.

[sol_phenom]

Tough to call this "awful luck" just yet, as maybe he'll turn it around, but after hitting .258 with 12 HR's in AAA in 2016 and then averaging .276 with 5 HR's in spring training (averaging about 2 AB's per game), Rowdy Tellez decided to suck for my Orioles early in the season, batting .048 in his first 6 games.

He then proceeded to decide to suck even worse for the Norfolk Tides in AAA.

After going 0-19 in his first few games at AAA, he finally netted his first hit (a 3-run HR), going 1-4. He's now an impressive 1-23 with 8 SO's.

On the bright side, the prospect I promoted in his place, Dominic Smith, is hitting just under .300 with a pair of homers in his first few appearances.

[Koprnkc]

1st round pick, #5 over all, Hal Morris. Pitched 1 inning in the minors and suffered a career ending injury.

His career stat line: 1GS, 1 IP, 1 K.

[Painmantle]

In a Historical online league right at the 1980 Trade deadline I dealt a 31 year Old Mike Schmidt for Toby Harrah and a 20 year old Von Hayes. Schmidt went on to win back to back AL MVP's, Harrah's Ratings started a free fall, and after a nice Sept Cup of Coffee giving me high Hopes for Hayes, He retired in the off-season to give his cousin a Kidney

[bwburke94]

Just got no-hit again. Still none of my own in eight years REAL TIME / thousands of games.

[MightyVotto]

Originally Posted by Steve509

I lost a no hitter with the Oakland A's.

I think the Reds actually did this once in the '70s. It was a factoid on Saturday at the Cubs/Reds game. They won even though they were no hit thanks to walks and errors. Crazy.

[MightyVotto]

Originally Posted by Koprnkc

1st round pick, #5 over all, Hal Morris. Pitched 1 inning in the minors and suffered a career ending injury.

His career stat line: 1GS, 1 IP, 1 K.

Maybe you should've made him a first baseman:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/morriha02.shtml

[MightyVotto]

Originally Posted by bwburke94

Just got no-hit again. Still none of my own in eight years REAL TIME / thousands of games.

They do happen. I assure you. I saw 4 of them in a 1920 - 1940 replay league I ran the last few years while managing the Yankees. Bob Shawkey, Hank Johnson, Lefty Gomez, and Red Ruffing. Gomez's was a perfect game.

[andjbock]

27 games into the current season. WTF??? Hit much?

[Adam the VIth]

Adam Warren, 'starting ace' of my expansion team, has hit 43 batters with pitches by 2 August. Shockingly, his record is 2-13.

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

I just lost four all-stars - a former Best Pitcher, my closer (also a former Best Pitcher and multi-time Reliever of the Year), and two all-star outfielders to injury. In a month. With injuries on the next-to-lowest setting.