The Denver Brewers of the W.P. Kinsella League

[BirdWatcher]

Well, that's just not happy news.



Fortunately, we have a deep bench and several players who can ably man second base, including Joe Willemse, Jose Figueroa, and Nick Ward. (Not to mention first baseman Brett Taranto, who was previously a second baseman and can still play the position well enough.)

[BirdWatcher]

So in happier news, Super Joe has a super week.
Joe picked a good time to get hot.

[BirdWatcher]

Aaron McNally is having a strong second half in his quest for a 4th Pitcher of the Year award. At age 27, this is the third season in which he has won at least 20 games.

[BirdWatcher]

So this gives you some idea about the kind of September the great Bud Lindsay is having as he tries to earn his 3rd straight SJL MVP award and carry his team to an SJL pennant for the first time ever. (The Keys currently sit 3 games behind El Paso, tied for 2nd place with Philadelphia.)

[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 6-0 (season), 96-43, 1st place, MGL (season).

September 3-4, at Baltimore: 4-3, 12-7.

September 6-8, versus Oklahoma City: 1-0, 4-1, 4-1.

September 9, at Brooklyn: 4-0.

And after losing the first two games of the month of September, the Brewers go on a six-game winning streak to all but guarantee that they will be headed back to the KCS at the end of the season.

Against Baltimore, in game 2 of the series, the Brewers needed an 8th inning rally to tie things up and then scored a run in the top of the 10th and held on for the win. In both the 8th and 10th innings, the sequence that lead to scoring was started by a two-out Val Guzman walk and capped by a big hit by fellow young outfielder Antonio Acuna. In the 8th Acuna homered following Val's walk and in the 10th he drove Val in with a double. It was Acuna's 8th homer and 11th double and he also singled in the game, scoring once and driving in 4 runs. He also threw a runner (Robert Mustard) out at home plate from his spot in center field, his 2nd outfield assist of the season and first as a center fielder. Guzman went 1 for 3, but walked 3 times and scored twice. Erik Sloan started for the Brewers and allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits over his 6 innings pitched. Brandon Veach (1-0, 0.00), recently called up from AAA, pitched the final 2 innings for his first win of the season as a Brewer. This was also, however, the game in which Bobby Erbakan hurt himself in an on-base collision.

And the Brewers took the series against the Lords with an offensive explosion in game 3, sparked by rookie Jose Figueroa's 5-hit game. Figueroa, who figures to get the majority of the starts at second base in Erbakan's absence, made a strong argument in favor of that notion in this one. His 5 for 6 performance also saw him scoring 3 runs, driving in another, while hitting his 6th double of the season. Brett Taranto, hitting behind in the order, went 4 for 6 and drove in 3 runs, hitting his 26th double. Val Guzman hit his 11th home run, the first inside-the-park home run hit by a Brewer this season. He also hit his 24th double, scored twice, and drove in 4 runs. Jake DiCesare and Kirk Patnode also each contributed 3 hits games. Jim Atwell started but did not get a decision, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings pitched. Veteran lefty Chris Pollack (1-0, 6.35) got his first win in a Brewers uniform. 1977 MGL MVP Chris Tobin's 2-homer game, including one in the 9th inning, made the final score look a bit closer than the game actually felt.



After a travel day off, the Brewers returned to Centennial Stadium in the Mile High City to square off against the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings, who have been fading for some time after a strong first half of the season.
And the Brewers struck the final nail into the coffin on the Diamond Kings season.
In game 1, it took a marvelous start from veteran Steve Green to get the narrow 1-0 win. Green (12-8, 3.80) allowed just 4 hits, striking out 5 and walking 1. 1977 KCS MVP Jon Williams provided the lone run of the game, hitting a 5th inning solo homer off Oklahoma City's talented rookie starter Joe Shetler (14-10, 3.00). Williams went 2 for 3 in the game. Val Guzman picked up his 20th stolen base in the win.



More great pitching for the Brewers in game 2, this time with staff ace Sadahige Kawasaki going the distance for the win. Kawasaki (16-6, 2.23) gave up 1 run on 6 hits. He also drove a run in for the cause with a single in the sixth inning, giving himself an insurance run. Rich White hit his 17th double and scored twice in this one.
And the Brewers duplicated the score of game 2 in game 3, though it took three pitchers to accomplish it this time. Sekien Hamasaki (16-4, 2.54) got the start and the win, allowing the 1 run on 7 hits over his 7 1/3rd innings. Jason Gottula, who has been horrible lately, struck out the only 2 batters he faced and earned his 11th hold while Tim Shore finished the game up for his 23rd save. Geoff Bartholomew, who just keeps raking, sparked the offense from the leadoff slot, going 3 for 4 with a run scored. Antonio Acuna hit his 9th home run and Brett Taranto his league leading 15th triple.

The Brewers then traveled to Brooklyn to take on the second place Aces in what is finally the last chance for Brooklyn to claw their way back into the race. The Aces almost need a series sweep to even hope to catch Denver
They aren't going to get it.
In game 1 they got shut down by rookie Jim Atwell in spectacular fashion. Atwell (15-6, 3.08) hurled a 2-hit shutout, striking out 6 and walking 2. Brooklyn's Mike Hiatt went the distance, but the Brewers were able to plate 3 runs off him in the 1st inning before he settled into a groove and that was plenty. Val Guzman led the way, as he often does these days, with a 2 for 3, 1 run scored, 2 RBI, 1 walk performance, hitting his 25th double and stealing his 21st base. (Man I like this kid!)




So as the week ends the Brewers now have a 12 game advantage over the 2nd place Aces with 23 games remaining for each team. And the Los Angeles Spinners are 21 games back in 3rd place, not yet technically mathematically eliminated, but let's face it, they are toast. And all other MGL teams have now been officially eliminated from contention this season.

Much more fun over in the SJL, where the El Paso Dawgs are holding a narrow 2 game lead over the suddenly surging again Philadelphia Mud Hens. Boston and San Antonio still are hanging in there at 4 games back. And while the mighty Columbus Whalers could still three-peat, it will be tough climb as they are 6 games back in 5th place (though they have won 5 straight to end the week).

[BirdWatcher]

Matt Helm has been the fearless captain of the Brewers for these past 7 seasons and while Helm has never been a frontline starter he has been a consistently valuable member of the starting rotation while, more importantly, being a true leader in the clubhouse.



But when he had to leave Tuesday's start after facing just one batter, and when it was then later revealed that he was suffering from an elbow strain in his throwing arm, many speculated that we had seen the last of the veteran left-hander in a Brewers uniform. He has one more season on his contract, but the team has the option of buying him out for next season for $75,000. And although Matty has pitched well when healthy this season, most scouting reports indicate that the feeling is he has almost nothing left in the tank, talent-wise, and was mostly getting by on luck and guile. It is also universally accepted that the long fragile 30-year old is a physical wreck at this point, a career ending injury waiting to happen.

If this is it, Helm's departure will be mourned by those inside the organization and by the team's fans. His role on the club always exceeded the sum of its parts. And if this is the end of the line, it is fitting to see him go out on a high note, having pitched his heart out and helped his team to what it looks like might be shaping up as their best ever regular season.

[Andrej72]

That's quite consistent pitching. Can you post a shot of your strategy settings?

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Andrej72

That's quite consistent pitching. Can you post a shot of your strategy settings?

Sure.
I'm not entirely sure if you mean my team's strategy settings or the league's general strategic settings or perhaps something else?

So here is the team's strategy settings:



I should note here that at this stage in team and league development I don't spend much time, well, really any time, on strategy settings. I do play as both GM and manager, but for in-game management issues I mostly let this guy run things:



I do control substitutions in-game but beyond that nothing.

Here are general league strategy settings at this point in our history, which essentially just mirror the same chronological year in MLB history:



If it was something else you were actually looking for, please let me know and I will do my best to share that.

[Andrej72]

I meant team strategy, so thanks.

[BirdWatcher]

So we have reached that time of year again, when we enter the WPK Time Machine and find out the identities of some future WPK'ers who have relatives currently playing in the league.

For a bit more of a description of this process see this thread from some time ago: https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...=288669&page=2

Our first journey this year is a short one, as we find out that current Milwaukee star first baseman Josh Schultz has a baby brother (baby as in the youngest- he is now 18 years old) who is scheduled to be in the amateur draft pool next year. Quincy Shultz profiles as a defensively gifted (Defensive Whiz player type) center fielder, who may or may not have enough offensive skills to ever make it onto a WPK roster. Only time will tell.




Getting back into the Time Machine, we head forward to the year 1994, when current Houston Cavalier's starting pitcher Tony Peres will have the honor of seeing his son Freddy, currently a two year old, enter the WPK universe through the amateur draft as a control pitcher who specializes in painting the corners of the plate (Control Pitcher Type 2).





This seems like a good time to take a look at the players who have already entered the WPK (through this relative player creation process) who had family members already in the league.

The first player to do so was outfielder Curtis Horah, who we learned about in 1967 and who entered the WPK universe in 1968. Horah, as we know, has become the best defensive player of his generation and has a good chance of Hall of Fame enshrinement when his career is over. His uncle, Dan Simmons, was a mediocre starting pitcher who pitched for nine different teams over his 12 plus year career, with little distinction. He did, however, earn 3 Gold Gloves during his career. Simmons retired in 1973.

The next player to enter the league this way was pitcher Owen Ballin, whose brother Fernando Ballin played shortstop for parts of 7 seasons with the Pittsburgh Roadrunners and who retired in 1975, having last played in the big leagues briefly in 1973. Owen, who is now 27, is still pitching, but currently at the AAA level, also as a member of the Pittsburgh organization. He has pitched in 135 games, all in relief, at the WPK level, 58 over three seasons with Boston, and now 77 in parts of four seasons with Pittsburgh. The submarining groundball pitcher is intelligent and has good control but overall his skills are limited and he is having a very poor season at AAA Laredo this year.


Also entering, like Ballin, through the 1969 draft, was pitcher Nathanael Alvarez, a control artist. Alvarez older brother Julio was a relief pitcher for the Milwaukee Cadets when we first learned of the existence of Nathanael. Julio retired in 1973, having pitched respectably in the league for seven seasons, and being part of two championship teams- the 1969 Columbus Whalers and the 1971 Washington Night Train. His younger brother Nathanael fared less well, only managing to get into six games in the WPK, all in 1975 as a member of the Pittsburgh bullpen. He retired in 1976 at the age of 29.


The next player to enter professional baseball was catcher Elvis Iniguez, whose older brother Jose Iniquez is an outfielder who is currently playing for the AAA club in the San Antonio organization at the age of 35. Jose last played in the WPK with the Keys in 1975 and he has put up just 5.9 WAR over his 6+ seasons in the big leagues. His younger brother Elvis, on the other hand, has become a star in the league and is considered one of the two or three best players at the position in the WPK currently, and almost surely the most defensively gifted catcher. (He was supposed to be a utility player. He and Curtis Horah are both examples for me of the need to tone down defensive skills for the players I am creating in this process as they have both become superstars, largely on the strength of their amazing defense, when that really wasn't the intention for these players.) At age 25, Elvis Iniquez has put up 22.8 WAR thus far in six seasons with the Boston Berserkers.

In 1974, Darian Burdzy, the younger cousin of outfielder Kenny White, was drafted by the Denver Brewers in the 2nd round of the draft. Burdzy is currently a member of the AAA Chester Big Stick and while he is very fast and a fine defender, he does not have the makings of a big league player and struggles with injury proneness. He may eventually earn a 5th outfielder job somewhere in the bigs, but it is unlikely to happen in a Brewers uniform. Burdzy is only 22, so it is too early to write his career off entirely though. As for his cousin Kenny White, at age 30 he is still hanging around, currently playing for the AAA Maybrook Knighthawks in the Chicago Fire farm system. He has played in 141 games at the WPK level, only 21 as a starter, and all but 7 of them were in a Phoenix uniform. He is durable and a likeable guy (prankster) so he might still find himself getting a bit more playing time at the big league level, but essentially he is just playing out the string on his professional baseball career.

Also drafted in 1974 was hard-throwing, control-challenged pitcher Lucas Hernandez, the brother of Angelo Hernandez. Angelo has mostly pitched in relief in his career although he did start 41 games for the Brooklyn Aces between 1968 and 1972. He is very durable (Iron Man) but only has 0.8 WAR in his 7 year big league career and currently finds himself toiling in the bullpen for the AAA West Concord Wild in the Portland Wild Things farm system. As for younger brother Lucas, well there is still some hope for him, but at age 24 he finds himself pitching for the single A Minneapolis Mastodons, also in the Portland system. While he has a big league fastball and great stuff, his movement is average at best and he still hasn't mastered his control. He hasn't come close to sniffing a WPK appearance and time is probably running out on that ever happening. This season he is 9-11 with 16 saves but also a 5.08 ERA at single A.

And finally, the most recent entry into the WPK through the relative player creation process, is slugging first baseman Toby Noguchi (he was originally a left fielder). Noguchi is the cousin of relief pitcher Tetsuhiro Noguchi, who was a pretty fine relief pitcher back in the late '60's for Phoenix, but at age 38 is considered fragile and has put up very poor numbers in his limited appearances in the WPK from 1974 onward. He is currently pitching in the Portland organization in AA and likely his career will soon be over. Toby, on the other hand, is a 21-year old playing in short season A-ball in the Pittsburgh farm system. He is thought to have 5-star potential (OSA, our guy says 4) and is the #76 prospect in the WPK. But his potential is mostly because of his prodigious power. He is not a great contact hitter, will strike out far too frequently, is very slow (though an average base runner), and, well, not terribly bright. Will he eventually become a big leaguer? Given his already tremendous power, probably. But will he be a star? Far more questionable. (He does have 19 HR's in 182 plate appearances this season and has hit 108 home runs as a minor leaguer from 1975 until the present.)

[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 5-2 (week), 101-45, 1st place, MGL (season)

September 10-11, at Brooklyn: 2-6, 7-1.

September 12-14, at Los Angeles: 13-4, 6-3, 6-4.

September 15-16, versus Phoenix: 2-3, 11-3.

Having lost the first game of the series, the Brooklyn Aces came back in the Sunday afternoon matchup to get a home win against the team they are desperately trying to catch at the top of the MGL standings. Starter Shannon Petrik and former starter/now closer Chris Justice (8-3, 3.24) combined to hold the Brewers to just 4 hits, with Justice pitching the final three innings for the win. Erik Sloan got the start for Denver and lasted just 4 2/3rds innings although he only gave up 2 runs on 5 hits. Sloan did however also walk 4 batters and threw 108 pitches and was clearly gassed. Ben Flynn (6-3, 4.23) came in next and took the loss as he continues to be an inconsistent member of the bullpen in spite of his great reputation. Val Guzman got half of the Denver hits, going 2 for 3 and driving in both of the Brewers runs, hitting his 26th double of the season.

But the Brewers then improbably pounded maybe the best pitcher in the game in Aaron McNally (20-8, 2.85), who gave up 7 runs (5 earned) on 12 hits and 3 walks to the visitors. Steve Green (13-8, 3.71), on the other hand, continued his fine second half, working 7 innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits. Joe McPhillips provided a great deal of the offense, going 4 for 4, scoring 3 times and driving in a run and he hit 2 doubles to get to 24 on the season. He also stole his 19th base. Jake DiCesare and Zacarias Martell each went 3 for 4 in the game, with DiCesare driving in a pair of runs and stealing 2 bases to get to 5 and Zacarias hitting his 19th double.

And then the schedulers, having a little fun at the Brewers expense, had them flying from one coast to the other without a day off to take on the 3rd place Los Angeles Spinners, who came into the series just barely holding on to the slimmest of hopes of staying in the race.

Those hopes were quickly dashed. In game 1 the Brewers blasted the Spinners with normally light-hitting defensive utility man Nick Ward leading the way with a 5 for 6 game, scoring twice, driving in 3 runs, and hitting his 5th triple of the season. Matty Helm started the game, got the first and only batter he faced to hit into a harmless groundout, which proved to be so not harmless to Helm's arm, as he had to leave and is now on the IL with no hope of returning this season. But John Weaver (4-1, 5.35) came in, and while he wasn't great, did just enough to get the win, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits in 2 innings pitched. Jose Figueroa continues to build a case to be on the roster next season as he went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. Joe McPhillips 2 for 4 day included 3 RBI and his 25th double. And Jon Williams hit his 4th home run in his lone at-bat of the game.



The Spinners season effectively ended when they dropped game 2 against the Brewers at home. Sadahige Kawasaki (17-6, 2.26) didn't allow any runs until the 9th inning when he gave the Spinners a glimmer of hope before three relievers came in, two of them walking the only batter they faced and the third, Brandon Veach, getting the final out to extinguish the rally and the Spinners hopes, and earning his 1st save. Kawasaki gave up the 3 ninth inning runs and 5 hits in his 8 and 2/3rds innings pitched. Brett Taranto got Player of the Game honors for his 3 for 5, 2 run, 3 RBI game in which he hit a pair of home runs to get to 18 on the season. Rich White chipped in with his 18th double and 7th home run.

And the Brewers get the sweep in L.A. behind Sekien Hamasaki (17-4, 2.60) in game 3. Hamasaki lasted 6 innings, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits, but it was enough. Victor Colon and Walter Hackler both pitched effectively in relief for holds and Tim Shore came in to pitch the 9th and earned his 24th save. Josh Schaeffer was POTG in this one, going 2 for 3 with a run scored and 3 RBI, hitting his 17th home run of the season. Antonio Acuna hit his 10th homer of the season in this one. And Joe McPhillips primary contribution was throwing out 2 runners at home plate in the game, giving him 9 outfield assists, which made up for a rare early error on what should have been a routine flyball out.

Coming home to Denver finally, the Brewers would have a 3-game set against the slugging Phoenix Speed Devils before going on the road again.
And in game 1, Jim Atwell (15-7, 3.10) got both the Player of the Game honors and the tough loss. Atwell lasted 7 1/3rd innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, while striking out 7 and walking 2. A pair of home runs sunk him in this one- the first one from an unlikely source, catcher Edwin Oropeza (7) and the second one from a very likely source, slugging first baseman Devin Schwisow (25). Jose Figueroa was once again excellent at the plate and solid in the field, as he went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. Josh Schaeffer went 3 for 5, scoring twice, and hit his 25th double of the season.

But the Brewers bats boomed again in game 2 as they crushed Phoenix to give Steve Green (14-8, 3.69) a rather easy victory. Green worked 6 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on just 4 hits. He would have lasted longer, except he had very uncharacteristic control issues, walking 7 batters, by far his highest single game total this season (he walked 3 in a few games, but never more than that until this outing.) Yet another great game for rookie Jose Figueroa, who was 4 for 5 in this one, scoring 2 runs and driving in another and hitting a pair of doubles to get to 12. And the guy he is trying to unseat as the starter at third base, Jake DiCesare, also had a great game, going 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and a run scored. And what is with Geoff Bartholomew and his under-rated bat? No scout would have predicted what he has done so far, and once again he was great at the plate, going 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a RBI, hitting his 13th double and lifting his slash line to .345/.395/.482.

So the Brewers end the week having 101 wins with 16 games remaining in the regular season schedule. It marks the 5th straight season with at least 100 wins for Denver. Their magic number is 4 with the Brooklyn Aces the only other MGL team not mathematically eliminated from contention.

Over in the SJL, though, a fine pennant race is brewing. El Paso now holds a 2 game lead over 2nd place Philadelphia, with Boston, San Antonio, and the surging Columbus Whalers all next at 3 games off the pace. After that it is all also-rans, though the only teams mathematically eliminated thus far in the SJL are Houston, Chicago, Jacksonville, and Washington.

[BirdWatcher]

As we head into the final few weeks of the 1978 WPK regular season, I'm going to shift to day-by-day reporting, particularly to follow along with the unfolding pennant race in the Shoeless Joe League.

The Denver Brewers:




Veteran left-hander Erik Sloan has a tremendous outing against the Phoenix Speed Devils in the final game of the three-game series. Sloan works 8 innings, and while he allowed 2 runs it was on just 1 hit- a 2nd inning home run by Kyle Larsen following one of the three bases on balls issued by Erik in this one- and he struck out 5 batters. Joe McPhillips went 3 for 5, scoring twice and driving in a run, and also picked up his 20th stolen base of the season. Brett Taranto went 3 for 4 and hit his 27th double. Brett also increased his lead in the batting race in the MGL, as he is now sitting at .342 with Baltimore's Robert Mustard next at .330. In addition, he and teammate Val Guzman, who went 2 for 5 in this one, stealing his 22nd base but also being caught for the 11th time, are tied for the MGL RBI lead at 94 apiece. (Guzman drove in one run in this game.)
The Brewers are now 102-45 and their magic number to clinch the MGL is down to 3.

In other MGL news, Brooklyn got a narrow 2-0 victory over Baltimore, with the Aces Jose Hernandes throwing a 3-hit shutout as he improves to 14-3 with a league-leading 2.08 ERA. Next best ERA in the MGL belongs to Sadahige Kawasaki at 2.26.


Shoeless Joe League Pennant Race:



Of the five teams in the pennant race in the SJL, only Boston got a win, defeating the first place El Paso Dawgs behind starting pitcher Bryan Coupal, who went the distance, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits.

It was a rough start for Columbus 2-time SJL Pitcher of the Year, Jim Norris, who gave up 8 runs (5 earned) on 10 hits in his 8 2/3rds innings pitched against the Washington Night Train.

And former Brewer Harry Lyerly took the loss for San Antonio against the Milwaukee Cadets.

This is what the pennant chase looks like at the end of the day:

[BirdWatcher]

(Note: there were no WPK games on Monday, September 18th and really also no meaningful news to report of any sort.)

The Denver Brewers:



Former Brewer starting pitcher Justin Peacock is having probably the best season of his career at the age of 31 for the Charlotte Sting this year. And he pitched a great game against his former club in this one, with the only run he allowed in his 7 innings pitched being on a game-opening leadoff home run off the bat of Josh Schaeffer, his 18th homer of the season.
Peacock doesn't have a great record, given that he pitches for a pretty poor team, but he has the best ERA and WHIP of his career (granted, his BABIP is a low .248, so probably some luck involved.) The hard working five-pitch groundball specialist is arbitration eligible at the end of the season and should get a hefty raise. (Though given that he is rumored to be on the trading block, it might not be a surprise if the team opts to allow him to walk in free agency instead.)
Sadahige Kawasaki (17-7, 2.31) really didn't pitch bad either, but he had a slight break down in control in the 2-run 6th inning, when he threw a pitch that Zacarias Martell had trouble corralling (it was called a passed ball, but certainly there was some shared blame) to allow a run to score, then walked that batter and after allowing a single walked another, followed by hitting shortstop Jonathan Rish, who had a big game, with a pitch, driving in the second run (having loaded the bases.)
Brett Taranto did improve his league best batting average to .343 with a 2-hit game and swiped his 19th base.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Aces kept pace when they got a 3-hit shutout from Joel Travino against Oklahoma City.
And L.A.'s veteran third baseman Jesus Hernandez is making a push for his 2nd league MVP award at the advanced age of 37, as he went 2 for 4, hit his MGL-best 27th home run, and sees his WAR rise to 6.4, just behind Josh Schaeffer (6.5) and Brett Taranto (6.7).

The Shoeless Joe League Pennant Race:





El Paso, Boston, and Columbus all get wins and El Paso now leads Boston by 2 games and Columbus and Philadelphia by 3. San Antonio falls to 4 back.

Tough loss for Philly's number 1 starter Rino Aguillon, who gave up 3 runs on 10 hits over 7 innings pitched. On the other hand, El Paso's 26-year old righty Zachary Shackleford is having the best season of his career. After a solid 15-7, 3.51 1977 campaign, he now has 18 wins and 13 losses with a 3.20 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in '78, and along with two-way player Vincent Medina, who pitches at the top of the rotation and plays first base, Shackleford helps give the Dawgs a good 1-2 combo at the top of the rotation.

[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers:



The mighty mite, Nick Ward, every now and then just suddenly seems to be channeling Babe Ruth (wait, who's that?), instead of just being content to be the great-fielding, light-hitting little utility infielder he really is. This was one of those games, and Ward is named the WPK #1 Star of the Day as a result. He went 3 for 5, hitting his 9th double and 4th home run, scoring 3 times and driving in 4 of the Brewers 7 runs. He helps provide the bulk of the ample run support for starter Sekien Hamasaki (18-4, 2.55), who reaches a new career high in wins for a season after going 17-5 last season. Hamasaki worked 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 3 batters and walking none. (Rumor has it that the team and Hamasaki are nearing completion on working out a deal that should keep him in a Brewers uniform for several more years and make him financially quite comfortable.) Backup catcher Kirk Patnode, another player known more for his defense than his bat, went 3 for 5. Brett Taranto saw his batting average drop to .342 but his one hit was his 28th double. And Joe McPhillips went 2 for 4 and swiped his 21st bag.

Brooklyn beat Oklahoma City again but with the Denver win the magic number is down to 2 for the Brewers to claim the pennant.
And L.A.'s Jesus Hernandez hit home run number 28 and was the POTG in the Spinners win over Baltimore.

The Shoeless Joe League Pennant Race:





El Paso gets a big win to stretch their lead in the SJL to 3 games again, over Boston and Philly. Former Brewer catcher Spencer Wilson was the POTG in El Paso's win, driving in 3 runs and hitting his 6th home run of the season.
Philadelphia got back on the winning track with another former Brewer, Mike Lovett, being part of the reason as the slugging young first baseman hit his 27th home run, which ties him for second in the SJL with the great Justin Vargas, just 2 behind the even greater Bud Lindsay.
And the Columbus Whalers, looking for their 4th straight SJL pennant, suffered a soul-destroying 15-inning loss to the Wolf Pack in Jacksonville.

Columbus is now 4 games back and San Antonio sits 5 back of El Paso, having now lost 4 straight games.

[Andrej72]

Nice storyline as usual. I am also thinking about creating a fictional league. I guess I would also pick my birth year (1972) as starting point. I made some tests, and as I see there are less pitchers on the roster, and not all of the players on the 26 men roster gets major league salary.

What setting would you suggest for my fictional league? As I would guess you gave the names Kinsella League and Shoeless Joe Division, right?

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Andrej72

Nice storyline as usual. I am also thinking about creating a fictional league. I guess I would also pick my birth year (1972) as starting point. I made some tests, and as I see there are less pitchers on the roster, and not all of the players on the 26 men roster gets major league salary.

What setting would you suggest for my fictional league? As I would guess you gave the names Kinsella League and Shoeless Joe Division, right?

I have to admit that I created this league when I was pretty new to OOTP, but didn't start playing it until a bit later. So it was really just a pretty vanilla, out-of-the-box league and has largely remained that way. My approach is to trust in the game engine for the most part and this has worked out well for me so far.

The over-arching league is called the W.P. Kinsella League and it has two sub-leagues: the Moonlight Graham League, which is the league in which the Denver Brewers play, and the Shoeless Joe League. (So basically, WPK=MLB and MGL=American League while SJL= National League, or vice versa.)

[Andrej72]

Do you also use the 26 men roster? If so, do you have 13 pitchers, and 13 positional players?

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Andrej72

Do you also use the 26 men roster? If so, do you have 13 pitchers, and 13 positional players?

At this time the league has a standard 25-man active roster limit (with the usual September 1st expansion to up to 40). But I do have many of the league evolution options activated so this could change in the future.

I tend to use an extra pitcher more often than most of the AI controlled teams (based upon the standard strategies of this period of baseball) but it varies depending upon need (how packed the upcoming schedule is, whether we are in a time of year with more off-days) and injury.

[stevem810]

Hey,
I enjoyed reading about the under rated players at the positions. Of course, this could only really take place in a league like yours with full immersion by the league overseer.

How did you determine who was under rated? Awards? Your unfamiliarity of the players? Something else?

Chat with us about your own familiarity of the league players, in general.

The part I am curious about is how many of the players you recognize and know about vs. guys you may never have heard about.

side note: When I was a little kid one my uncles used to introduce me to other adults as someone who knew every player in baseball. Being both shy and modest at the time I'd retort, 'just the American League, Uncle Charlie'. Because it was true, I did know every player.

So, I'm curious about your knowledge throughout your own world.
Thanks, in advance!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

Hey,
I enjoyed reading about the under rated players at the positions. Of course, this could only really take place in a league like yours with full immersion by the league overseer.

How did you determine who was under rated? Awards? Your unfamiliarity of the players? Something else?

Chat with us about your own familiarity of the league players, in general.

The part I am curious about is how many of the players you recognize and know about vs. guys you may never have heard about.

side note: When I was a little kid one my uncles used to introduce me to other adults as someone who knew every player in baseball. Being both shy and modest at the time I'd retort, 'just the American League, Uncle Charlie'. Because it was true, I did know every player.

So, I'm curious about your knowledge throughout your own world.
Thanks, in advance!

The underrated was mostly about players who are near the top of the pile at their position but haven't received much attention for it yet, in terms of awards, All-Star appearances, that sort of thing. And, I suppose, also in terms of being talked about much here in this thread.

Anyone on this list would have been at least somewhat familiar to me. I do, purposefully, move slowly enough with this league that I know most of the players, at least by name and probably a bit about what kind of player they are. Especially, of course, if they play in the MGL, since I play out all of the Brewers games. (That's my version of "just the American League, Uncle Charlie".)
But this time of year, after roster expansion, there are more of those little surprises where I find myself saying, wait, who's this guy? Which is actually quite fun.

The longer the league goes on the more immersed I become, which can actually almost be a bit of a problem as I kind of want to move slower and slower so I don't miss anything, while not wanting to move so slow that things get bogged down. Both for me and for anyone following along here.

I definitely go day by day, during the season at least, and I look at the scores and overview of each game played in the WPK. Then maybe go a bit deeper and look at boxscores, etc. of games that catch my eye. And since I tend to have quite a few players shortlisted for each amateur draft- and I don't bother to get rid of the shortlists (I mean, eventually I'll have to clear out the oldest drafts from my shortlists to make room), a lot of news stories come up also about minor league players, and I pay at least a little attention to every one of them. So even before players make it to the big leagues many of them have name recognition for me.

Even though the Brewers are currently in the midst of an era of something like dominance (and I'll probably have to do something about that eventually- I'm always looking for new approaches to limit my ability to win with the team) for me that isn't really the fun of this thing. It is the history developing, the storylines, the mythology, the characters, the rise and fall, or vice versa, of franchises. It is the jerk Joe Brodeur winning the MVP award in 1973, then getting busted for PED's not long after, only to return and slowly fade from his earlier glories, and now, still in his prime, he's having a year where he will finish in negative WAR territory. It is the hero and ultimate team captain Bud Lindsay over-coming early career injury issues to capture two straight MVP awards and now on the verge of a likely third while trying to lead his San Antonio Keys to their first SJL pennant. (It looks like they will fall short, but gloriously very possibly because the long-time doormats of the SJL, the El Paso Dawgs, will get there first.) It is the great Jesus Casiano, who had maybe the best season in the WPK history thus far in 1970, at age 36 having moved to first base from third and, although still having a great game now and then, mostly a shell of his former self, while his even older third base counterpart, Jesus Hernandez, is on the verge of leading the league in HR's and has a decent shot at his second MVP award. They both of are probably Hall of Fame bound, but somehow Hernandez seems to have found the fountain of youth while Casiano is apparently just about done as a meaningful player.

It is a whole wonderful world to me, this W.P. Kinsella league. It is baseball and it is life. And I love it!