Life is Full of Ups and Downs in the Otis Association

[luckymann]

Regardless of which club I'm running - apart from, that is, if I should ever choose to sneak into the big end of town, which is highly doubtful - this save will be an endless tightrope walk between the wants and needs of today and the cans of tomorrow.

We're not at that stage yet with the Jays, but rather at the point where our rosters are all at or over capacity - the 26-man Active, the 40-man and the 44-man AAA.

So I am now trying to find the balance between keeping our clubs competitive while shipping off players whom I don't see being with us next year while they still have some value.

This is the sole motivation for these trades, with Ron Jirsa and the disappointing Dustin Delucchi off to greener pastures. We had Nelly Canna on our books last year but let him walk as a FA and now have him back on a MiLB deal. He can't hit a lick but can field like the Devil himself and will prove handy at Buffalo. Smith may see some time in the bigs if things fall his way.

[luckymann]

This is the 11th season of the Otis Association, during which period there has been a total of 19 major league no-hitters: 7 in the Penthouse, just 3 (including Neck Stanley's early this year) in the Basement, and with this one by San Fran's Miguel Lopez (our franchise's all-time wins leader, in fact) against the BoSox, 9 in the Skylobby.

We are yet to see a perfecto.

[luckymann]

... with the Eastwick trade.

[luckymann]

... for Clan Clemens.

[Brad K]

This league is named after the elevator company?

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Brad K

This league is named after the elevator company?

Well spotted, Bradley, you may proceed to the next round.

[Brad K]

Very good selection on your part. You're quite creative.

Years ago I wanted to post to the Usenet army and aviation groups criticizing US Army Air Force, US Army, and US Air Force aviation. I wanted a new ID to do this so after some though selected edward ohare (spelled that way with no capitals). About six months later someone realized I was criticizing Army and Air Force aviation under the name of a naval aviator who has a miniscule airport in Chicago named after him. By the time they realized it I had forgotten I'd done it!

[luckymann]

Certainly not getting ahead of ourselves - there's still a ways to go and the O's are sticking with us as we do this...

... but it cannot be denied things have come together really well and the boys are looking good. Denzel "Washington DC" Clarke and Michael "No Nickname Yet" Kmet have won B2B weekly awards. 18-4 in one-run games reflects a tight-knit squad who can dig deep. Now we just need to keep it together for the remainder.

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Very good selection on your part. You're quite creative.

Years ago I wanted to post to the Usenet army and aviation groups criticizing US Army Air Force, US Army, and US Air Force aviation. I wanted a new ID to do this so after some though selected edward ohare (spelled that way with no capitals). About six months later someone realized I was criticizing Army and Air Force aviation under the name of a naval aviator who has a miniscule airport in Chicago named after him. By the time they realized it I had forgotten I'd done it!

Thank you, and well played.

Did your grievance with them happen to stem from their misrepresentation of real and neutralized stats, perchance?

Sorry bud, couldn't resist.

[luckymann]

Looks like we've got a live one here in Mike Kmet. Now I've just gotta find him a nickname worthy of his obvious talent! I'm thinking "Kmmerce" - as in the Kmmerce Kmet, riffing on Mickey M. That's the interim one until I can think of something better (or, if I can't, his permanent one...). Suggestions welcome!

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by luckymann

Thank you, and well played.

Did your grievance with them happen to stem from their misrepresentation of real and neutralized stats, perchance?

Sorry bud, couldn't resist.

Absolutely! They had Real Stats that said nukes won WWII in the Pacific! I explained their Real Stats were Cheez Whiz!

Also I had valid neutralized stats that showed the B24 was superior to the B17 and the only reason they liked the B17 better is because it was pretty. This was about the year 2000 so I called the B17 the Britney Spears of bombers.

Man, the old days were fun...

[luckymann]

So, each season I'll be giving a rundown of events over the last week of the regular season to enable you to follow whatever promotion tussles and relegation battles might be in play. Haven't 100% settled on the best way to do this, but here goes with a first-run attempt. Sadly, there's no focus on the bottom end provided by the game - it would be a nice touch for these types of saves. Tragic numbers or whatnot.

With a week to go, here are the standings and a quick summary for each league.

Penthouse

• The Yanks and Phils are tied, with the top seeding in this year's Otis Cup up for grabs.
• While still a mathematical possibility to stay up, the Friars look doomed as they trail the Twins by 4 1/2 games.

Skylobby

• In what has been a ding-dong battle all season, the Red Sox and Guardians look to have it between them as to who rides the VIP Express lift up to the Penthouse. The Cards and Rangers aren't completely out of it but will need a lot of things to fall their way.
• The Rockies are gone. For a long while, the Cubbies looked the most likely passenger going down the goods lift, but they rallied late to pull off the great escape.

Basement

• All settled at both ends here, as we clinched a few days ago and the Marlins off to the Gimp Room without much of a fight.

[luckymann]

So I'll just focus on the two live races - the top spots for the Penthouse and Skylobby.

Penthouse

Yankees 4 v Dodgers 2
Phillies 2 @ Angels 1





Skylobby

Red Sox 3 v Cubs 6
Guardians 8 @ White Sox 5
Rangers 3 v Cardinals 1

[luckymann]

Penthouse

Yankees 6 v Dodgers 5 (10) - walking it off on a Brian Hartsock single.
Phillies 13 @ Angels 3





Skylobby

Red Sox 12 v Cubs 2
Guardians 2 @ White Sox 4
Rangers 3 v Cardinals 5

[luckymann]

Penthouse

Yankees 5 v Dodgers 0
Phillies 4 @ Angels 7





Skylobby

Red Sox 9 v Cubs 1
Guardians 2 @ White Sox 0
Rangers 2 v Cardinals 5

[luckymann]

Penthouse

Yankees 5 @ Padres 1
Phillies 4 v Dodgers 3 (15) - walking it off on a Toad Perry solo shot.





Skylobby

Red Sox 6 @ Rockies 5
Guardians 1 v Giants 11
Cardinals 7 @ Seattle 0 - but still eliminated.

[luckymann]

Penthouse

Yankees 5 @ Padres 4
Phillies 7 v Dodgers 4 - with Philly 1B Francis Felichio belting 3 homers to set up a final day extravaganza.





Skylobby

Red Sox 8 @ Rockies 4 - to clinch.
Guardians 4 v Giants 6

[luckymann]

Penthouse

Yankees 6 @ Padres 7 - this time NYY is on the wrong end of a walkoff.
Phillies v Dodgers RAINOUT - would you believe it? Rescheduled for tomorrow; they need the win for a tie.

[luckymann]

Penthouse

Phillies 1 v Dodgers 5 - as Rocket Clemens denies the Phillies their date with destiny.

[luckymann]

Penthouse




Skylobby




Basement