The Lincoln Park Pirates are we

[Lemandria]

Acquired Rousch just before leaving for work, but didn't get him worked into the outfield crowd yet.

Should help the OF situation, even if his defense is a little sub-par (for the Fat Man's standards).

Tinkered with the towing lot, too.

We could be losing like crazy right at this very moment!

[rburgh]

We're in G305 too. We are off to a 4-15 start. My rotation is Kuroda, Caldwell, Randy Jones, Joe Blanton, Jose Lima. The following pitchers make up the other four rotations in my division:
Maddux (3), Randy Johnson (2), Carlton (2), Blyleven (3), Lyons (2), deGrom, Spahn, Clemens, Bob Gibson, Mussina, Plank, Wainwright, and Brecheen.
As predicted, we're going to have a long season. But Pinson was just named POTW. so maybe it wasn't such a boneheaded move. Looks like it's time to start cross-training people already. And you're off to a 6-13 start. It appears that piracy is frowned on in these parts.

[Lemandria]

And you're off to a 6-13 start.

Yeah, they weren't hitting at all for the first half of the month. It picked up a bit in the second half. Still not good, but meh.

Need some arms but...maybe next week? The scouts aren't turning up many rough diamonds.

[Lemandria]

Life in a division

…that is not dominated by a single rock-crushing mega-team. We don’t have a top seed bashing our brains in this season, and facing merely human (rather then robotic perfect) pitching, we get some chance to see what the bats can actually do.

13-9 in May, 27-25 overall. We clawed back from our typical miserable start, at least a little bit. Div 3rd Ovr 15th. There are cars that need towing in this city!

The park changes seem to be doing the job, generating more O. The pitchers aren’t liking it so very much, but it’s mostly the bullpen taking horrific beatings at the moment. I’ll need to address the bullpen eventually. RS/RA is just about balanced (-7).

Giambi woke up, helping drag the team, kicking and screaming, out of the gutter. He’s not our ideal 1B, too much pop and not enough average, but he does help us on the road. Roush is earning a living with his stick, but giving away a steady dribble of hits into CF–we’ve got to get him out of the OF somehow.

This is, defensively, the worst the team’s ever looked, I’ve compromised too much to generate a little more stick. Back to the basics in the OF, I think, we need a Dykstra or a good Ichiro, maybe Brett Butler out there in CF–any defensive wizard with a rock steady average. Perfect Trout would do, too, of course–if anyone has a spare, mail him over please.

Looks like four teams battling the rest of the season out, no one’s pulled out of the pack (yet).

[Lemandria]

Dog Days in G305

Well, seems like the worst part of the season is over, but we’re essentially stalled. Dayton’s pulled out front by 8½ with 57 remaining to play, unlikely to make up that many games. But we might make up a few, -3 in the wild card is still a possibility.

55-50 (.524) on the season, Div 2nd Ovr 14. Looks like we’ve settled in at the middle of the pack.

PP and RS models both predict 84 wins, but with a large-ish error margin. Still, I wouldn’t expect a deviation all the way up to promotion (-9) nor down to relegation (+21½).

Stuck in the Middle

[Lemandria]

The big finish

Well, no, more like a wet fizzle. At least we ended the season with a winning month (15-10). Overall, we only towed 85 vehicles this season.

85-77 (.525), Division 2nd (-15) Overall 13th. Out of the post-season (-6 WC), out of Promo, out of Rel.

Purgatory.

Better than the whuppin’ we took last season, I suppose.

The holes most in need of bondo and spackling are obvious ones, the only question is whether the scouts can locate talent to plug those holes at salaries we can pay. Time to go hunting for some burly felons who know how to swing a pick axe at a car window in the off season.

[rburgh]

3 of my 4 Gold teams were relegated, and the 4th had a huge bit of good fortune, completing the AL mission and claiming Mussina for the AL East, Yaz for the complete AL, and getting the perfect Eckersley in the reward gold pack as well as a marketable Bogaerts. The historical pack for the complete AL gave us Jim Nash (a 2600 PP starter) and several decent silvers. So we will end up recovering over 3000 PP's in card resale as well as the 150K+ in card value we acquired as rewards.

[Lemandria]

Riding the 400 railroad

Well, we thought that April was pretty bad, until May came along.

Featuring: 3 of the 4 top seeds rolling through my division in four weeks. (#4 is over in the other league, we won’t play him at all in the regular.)

Featuring: 20 Bagwells in these 30 teams (not I).

Featuring: Jerry Koosman, who has a pretty terrific little card except for that L next to Throws. Current ERA: 5.22 (and he’s still outpitching Walters at 7.59).

So we’re riding the .400 railroad again.

But the RSS Model assures me that most of the pain for this season is now over. We’ll still get abused here and there in the remaining months, but nothing like that.

So off we set on the long, slow slog back to 500-ish?

[rburgh]

I have both the Phillies and the Seals in my division, and have 3 against the Earthquake at home in August. But we are doing OK against those teams so far (4-5 against the Seals, 1-2 vs. Phillies, and 2-1 vs. Beatdown) and are hanging on to a solid 3rd in the division. But they have juggled the pro-rel again and it is 8 up and 8 down in all but the top and bottom levels. I think that is their long-term plan, once they get the levels stabilized as they wish. So winning your division or the wild card game condemns you to a long season at the diamond level.


I'd rather be relegated, but don't think that is very likely. My only hope is that the remaining whales cruising up the levels miss my division next season.

[Lemandria]

Originally Posted by rburgh

My only hope is that the remaining whales cruising up the levels miss my division next season.

There shouldn't be a lot left. Diamond's been open for a while now, the waves have passed. If they ain't there by now, they probably don't belong there.

There's going to be an entire new ecosystem of borderland diamond teams, moving up, bouncing back down, repeat. Same for gold-silver border.

Same as XX--just more people slugging it out in the borderlands. And substantially better competition in the borderlands than in the Diamond contenders above. Should be really fun, actually.

[Lemandria]

Towing in June

We can breathe again. The bats started warming up, the starters stopped getting repeatedly shelled. AND the schedule did not seem designed to crush us. My only gripe about June is my bullpen (again).

I had assumed the slog back up to the middle of the pack from .400 would take a little while. 19-6 (.760) for June. The difference between hitting the ball and…not hitting the ball.

This guy helped a little bit. Plank got his groove on.


42-39 (.519) Division 2nd (-9) Overall 14th, nibbling at the heels of the BEES (fortunately not a division rival). We’re chasing the Great Lakes Squirrels (the #5 seed), but probably don’t have the pedigree to make up nine games by the end of the season. Rdiff is mildly positive now, and the projections do look much better.

I am enjoying the plunder income, you felons. Keep up the good work, more booty!

Early projections (big error margin):
Pessimistic Projection Model — 83 wins
Remaining Schedule Strength — 86 wins

[Lemandria]

Giambi's leading the Pack of Bagwells in the all star voting, too. That's not terribly meaningful, just kind of fun.

[Lemandria]

ASB and beyond

.667 for July, 58-50 (.537) overall. Division 2nd (-15) Ovr 12th.

The Squirrels will cruise to a division win, we can’t touch ’em. Looks like no WC team for this division, but we may get one of those miracle finishes? No chance, -6 games on the WC, too, but +14 on the Relegation line.

Decent season, but the fates seem to have decided: “purgatory range.”

I’m still cursing at the bullpen, but honestly it was the stacked schedule in May that wrecked this season. Some starters will likely be looking for new jobs, too.

PPM — 86 wins, RSS — 86 wins.

Time to shift attention to other teams.

[Lemandria]

Not enough plunder

Division -22½, Wildcard -7, Mendoza Line +22½, Projection 87 wins

The primary problem with Purgatory is the lack of cars parked on the street for towing.

Not much to report, either.

[Lemandria]

90 wins, nothing to show for it.

/purgatory

OTOH 4 ftp teams in various playoffs, no WCs.

[Lemandria]

2027

For a change, we don’t feel crippled by the first month losses. Because we actually found some cars to tow in the early days of spring. A decent-good April, let’s hope it stays that way, you felons, or the plank awaits ye! There’s sharks in the water, too.

15-10 (.600) for April. Division 1st, by .003 over the Vegas Gamblers, Overall 6th.

I’ve seen a loooot of these teams before, looks like a season filled with gold-level veterans. And look, we get to play Skep’s Dickshots later in the season, at least for four little games.

We’ve got some new bullpen premiering this season, no mega-names but some useful mid-level golds (Kerry Woods, Gabe White). Just bandaids, hopefully patching up the holes a little bit to stop the bullpen bleeding.

[Lemandria]

Jun 1

Look at all these vehicles parked illegally!

In early May we were towing cars at an unprecedented rate. Then things did cool down a bit when we ran into a fistful of visiting division leaders.

Still, 18-10 (.643) was a pretty successful month for the Fat Man’s treasure chest.

Division 1st (+4½), Overall 3rd. RS-RA-BA-ERA 1st, we were pretty hot. June doesn’t look to be a lot of fun, schedule-wise, but July thru October looks like a sunny stroll.

Early projections (error margin caution):
PPM 92 wins RSS 90 wins

Note to self: remember to set your bullpen roles dummy.

[Lemandria]

Kooz

Koosman was the leading felon for the month of June. He personally towed six cars to the boneyard, earning an approving grunt from the Fat Man.



Pirate bats were also quite strong this month, led by Roush (currently the leading ASG vote-getter) and Cano (the best numbers of the Pack of Robinsons). In June LPP impounded 19 more vehicles (.731) and took over sole possession of the league lead for the first time in several seasons.

Division 1st (+6½) Overall 1st (+2) Rdiff +132

The Fat Man tapped a barrel of grog, offered a brief toast, and chased the pack of criminals out of his office.

[Lemandria]

ASB+

The All Star Game was pretty much a snoozer, until the idiot robo-manager let Aroldis Chapman pitch to Berra and (crank) Game over.

Edd won the beauty contest, and had a 21-game hitting streak end.

The bats (in general) went floppy-soft for July, and against a schedule that was not strong. Lowest tow rate of the season thus far (.500), lashes will be issued to those responsible.

The pitchers did fairly well, except our rookie ‘superstar’ Kerry Wood, who’s cursed by the gopher ball demon. Waiting for his elbow to explode, which would complete the Kerry Woods simulation.

Leading the division, but we’ve pushed the door wide open to give Vegas a solid shot at a hot stretch run. Division-1 Overall-T3, slipping down fast.

The felons have been informed that the plank is rolled out and ready. If they don’t wake up and tow some cars some of them will surely walk it.

PPM-95 wins
RSS-95 wins

I have that pit-of-the-stomach feeling that we’ve seen this impending collapse before. Hopefully, we aren’t Prior and Wood in 2004.

“Even today I can barely believe how badly we effed this one up. I swear, if Jesus taught the Cubs to turn water into wine, they’d end up losing the recipe and trying to bottle p*ss. Pretend you spent 40 years married to (bleeping) Judi Dench. Then, pretend that for about four days you were married to Julia Roberts and Demi Moore at the same time, and all they ever wore were Hooters outfits. That’s how I felt in 2003. Then, starting in ’04 it was like Demi and Julia both got hit by a bus and I’ve been dating Judi Dench again ever since. On one hand, I’m used to it…but that doesn’t make it any less disgusting.”

[Lemandria]

August

17-10 (.630), Division 1st (+6½) Overall (t-1st w. Portobello) Mag#24

So we had a good August, but missed the opportunity to run away with it. 9 games that matter remain in the schedule (6 with Vegas, 3 with Portobello). If Vegas wins all or even a majority of the remaining series, he could catch us. Duking it out with the co-one seed in the final month feels like a possible nail in the coffin.

But it IS a +6½ game lead with 29 to play. We’d have to collapse pretty damned hard to give Vegas a shot at us. Pennant Chase says 99.4% division win. I wonder how many ex-Cubs are on the Pirates crew of felons?

Roush is running neck-and-neck with an AC Suzuki for another batting title, the LP Cano is leading RBIs, no one is on the HR board. Coveleski has a shot at ERA crown, Koosman has a (narrow) shot at pitching wins, Mike Marshall has a (narrow) shot at Saves.

Deff .704, ZR 50.9, up to our usual defensive standards. RA 1st RS 4th Pyt -2 Rdiff +179

This won’t be the strongest playoff team we’ve ever fielded, for sure. But this Gold league as a whole is not as chocked full of bone-crushing teams as in previous seasons, either. Perhaps we’re ready for our (first) diamond league massive beatdown and instant slingshot back to gold?

Projections: PPM 99 wins RSS 98 wins