Any Given Sunday - The Journey Continues

[NYY #23]

New York Jets (9-7) @ New York Giants (10-6)



Nobody has been hotter than Jet's starter Pat Rehberg in the playoffs, and that continued today. Rehberg picked up the complete game win while allowing 8 hits and 1 earned run. He also continued his hot hitting going 3-4 at the plate with 2 RBI with a run scored to finish the postseason with a .467 batting average.

Rehberg got some help on offense tonight though, with Adam Webber going 3-4 with 3 runs scored, and Corey Perry picking up 2 hits and driving in a run.

Giants' 23 year old hurler Al Atkinson had the shortest start of his postseason career today, exiting after 3 innings after giving up 7 runs on 4 hits. It's probably little consolation that just one of those runs were earned, because with the Jets 7-0 lead the game was virtually out of reach.

The Jets capture their first World Championship.

[NYY #23]

I have to confess that after 14 years with this league I feel like I went down the wrong path moving to all-NFL teams. I think dynaboyj was right when he posted it, and that may have been my jump the shark moment in this dynasty, and I find myself enjoying this less and less, and missing the days of the Crescents and Bisons and Pilgrims. The Detroit Wolves took on an identity of their own, at least to me. The Detroit Lions have their own biases to me, and they just aren't the same.

I was looking forward to getting back to this, but then when I do it feels almost like a chore to update, and I don't want that. So I keep thinking if there is a way to salvage this, or is it better to start fresh and take some of the things I've learned and liked and start from scratch?

One thing that I've learned is that I really do enjoy the fictional players, and I'd like to proceed with a fictional league with fictional players.

There are also some things with OOTP that don't really work too well. I really don't like having to schedule the playoffs manually. The regular season works fine with a custom schedule, but they can't be scheduled automatically because they'll start after a day off, which kind of throws off the Sunday only games. My other big problem is tiebreakers are always scheduled when the playoffs are disabled, so I've been having extra games scheduled that have to be played, that really don't have any implications.

I guess they are minor inconveniences, but they do drive me nuts. The other things that are even more troubling is the season officially ends before the playoffs that I schedule, so players retire, could get traded, etc. I've tried to keep a close eye on that, but without putting in a workaround that won't cut it.

So where am I going with this? I don't know yet. I've taken a copy of the league and I'm experimenting with a couple of things. Some of you have been with me from the beginning, so I'm throwing this out there if anybody has any feedback on what you liked or didn't like, etc. If I do move in a different direction I'm also willing to move forward and give some closure to this dynasty.

[ZTO333]

I am fine with anything but I would love for this dynasty to continue in some way. I love the whole idea of the NFL style schedule for baseball. I agree though with the NFL teams having their own biases. I preferred the days of the Cresents and Bisons etc. Perhaps starting from scratch or something along those lines may be a good idea. Then the league will have its own feeling and history. I have no idea how to fix the scheduling problem as I've only ever played iOOTP not OOTP. I really just hope this dynasty can continue in some form as I have really enjoyed it.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ZTO333

I am fine with anything but I would love for this dynasty to continue in some way. I love the whole idea of the NFL style schedule for baseball. I agree though with the NFL teams having their own biases. I preferred the days of the Cresents and Bisons etc. Perhaps starting from scratch or something along those lines may be a good idea. Then the league will have its own feeling and history. I have no idea how to fix the scheduling problem as I've only ever played iOOTP not OOTP. I really just hope this dynasty can continue in some form as I have really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the feedback, and for following along. I will definitely plan on continuing on in some way shape or form. Right now I'm leaning towards a restart to build some history.

I've been experimenting with some different things and schedule lengths. While I definitely want to go with the NFL concept of weekly games I definitely don't want to be an NFL clone. I was doing a little bit of research online, and I think something clicked when I read something that said if baseball played an NFL style schedule they'd play 26 games, playing between April and September.

That makes a lot of sense so I've started to run with that and create some schedules. Trying to get things to work in a balanced manner it seems like 14 teams in the league works best, playing each other team in the league 13 times. That seems to work pretty well, I just need to decide between 1 division, or splitting them up between 2 divisions of 7 teams.

That leaves the playoff problem, but I tested out having 2 game series - one game Saturday, one game Sunday. That forces each team to have two starters, and the playoffs would be best of 3 series. That seems to work well giving each starter 26 starts, and the number 1 starter seems to pitch games 1 and 3 in the playoffs, on full rest if I adjust the stamina.

That seems to solve the playoff problem somewhat. I'm still debating on whether I want to go that route or not though. I'm comfortable moving to 26, but 52 seems to go against the whole concept somewhat.

[ZTO333]

Hmm that seems interesting. I feel like 26 games is definitely about as high as it should go since the point is a weekly game instead of 162 games. I'm not so sure about the playoffs having series instead of 1 game elimination like the NFL. I just love the idea of only having one starting pitcher like a starting QB in football.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ZTO333

Hmm that seems interesting. I feel like 26 games is definitely about as high as it should go since the point is a weekly game instead of 162 games. I'm not so sure about the playoffs having series instead of 1 game elimination like the NFL. I just love the idea of only having one starting pitcher like a starting QB in football.

Yeah, I think that 26 is the way to go. That should help reduce ties, and I really like the one starter per team just like a starting quarterback. I think that the best trick to get around the playoffs is just to schedule a game that will happen after the playoffs, and delete that game after the playoffs. That prevents roster moves until after the playoffs are done.

That should work pretty well I think. I'm going to try and come up with the 14 initial teams and do some set-up next, and get restarted shortly. Hopefully this should allow for a more natural progression to the league by starting smaller.

[NYY #23]

Well, I spent a lot of time today, and have decided to start from scratch here: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-saturday.html

I do want to thank everyone for following along, commenting, and keeping me going. Hopefully you'll continue to follow along the new set-up, and hopefully I can take what I've learned and make it an improvement.

[moonlightmerc]

You did a great job with this dynasty. I really enjoyed following it. Im glad the Jets went out on Top! Now I can tell everyone I seen the Jets win it it all!!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by moonlightmerc

You did a great job with this dynasty. I really enjoyed following it. Im glad the Jets went out on Top! Now I can tell everyone I seen the Jets win it it all!!

Thanks you! It is funny in a way that the Jets went out in top. To me they both didn't seem like a team that could win it all, or was built for future success. It was fun to see someone like Rehberg get hot at the right time at the end of his career. He not only carried them with good pitching, but he was their best hitter in the playoffs too.

To me that anything can happen once a team makes it to the playoffs is what makes it fun and unpredictable. Thanks for following along, and enjoy the Jets victory!

[StLee]

I was away for awhile, so I missed all of this! First of all, I want to say that I appreciate this dynasty. Of course, being from the New Orleans area and being a big Saints fan (in real life) gave me great pleasure to see how successful they were. I will miss this particular version of the Saints, though I also really liked the Crescents team name, too, and think it's good that you are resetting it to what you want to do.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by StLee

I was away for awhile, so I missed all of this! First of all, I want to say that I appreciate this dynasty. Of course, being from the New Orleans area and being a big Saints fan (in real life) gave me great pleasure to see how successful they were. I will miss this particular version of the Saints, though I also really liked the Crescents team name, too, and think it's good that you are resetting it to what you want to do.

Thanks, and thanks for following along from the beginning. New Orleans definitely was a fun team to watch, and their success was pretty impressive. Every year they were in the thick of things, and I counted them out a couple of times, but they always found a way to surprise me.

I've got the league file saved still, and maybe at some point I'll do a post mortem to see how things turned out. But I do feel much better after the reset, and feel like it does give me more flexibility.

[NYY #23]

Sometimes you need to step away for a little bit to get a fresh perspective on things. It's been a couple of months since I've changed directions, and while I like the direction I'm going with the new league it's not the same as this league, and I've been missing the original league. I've kept the original league file, and I decided to fire it back up thinking I would do a post mortem on how things turned out.

I moved forward a few weeks, and after seeing the familiar names I want to jump back in. 42 year old Milt Foss has started off 5-0, the defending World Champion Jets are 0-6, and the Bears, Steelers, and Titans are undefeated.

Maybe I just needed to walk away from this for a little while, but after opening up the league file, looking around a little bit it started to suck me in. So I'm going to start back up with the original league file. I'll still continue with "Any Given Saturday", but don't want to do two leagues at the same time with one game per week. I'll get back to that league shortly, with some changes, but focus on the promotion/relegation aspect.

But it's time to get back to the original for now.

[NYY #23]

World Champions Games
1871 - New Orleans Saints 13, Green Bay Packers 3
1872 - Green Bay Packers 7, New Orleans Saints 3
1873 - Kansas City Chiefs 3, New York Giants 2
1874 - Jacksonville Jaguars 8, New England Patriots 3
1875 - Green Bay Packers(2) 8, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6
1876 - Denver Broncos 4, Baltimore Ravens 2
1877 - New Orleans Saints(2) 5, Baltimore Ravens 3
1878 - Denver Broncos(2) 4, Green Bay Packers 2
1879 - San Francisco 49'ers 5, Pittsburgh Steelers 2
1880 - Dallas Cowboys 6, Miami Dolphins 2
1881 - New Orleans Saints(3) 3, Denver Broncos 1
1882 - Baltimore Ravens 2, San Francisco 49'ers 1
1883 - New Orleans(4) 7, Baltimore Ravens 5
1884 - New York Jets 10, New York Giants 3

The 1884 season saw four players hit over .400 -

Abner Dalrymple, New England - .407
Mike Homan, San Francisco - .435
Joe Kappel, New Orleans - .431
Roger Connor, Washington - .400

With a small sample size of 16 games that's not really as impressive as it sounds, as there have been 92 players who have done that so far.



Cameron Cotter of the Cowboys set a record for most strikeouts in a season when he struck out 130 batters.

39 year old Vernon Zeber of the Texans won his first Pitcher of the Year Award in the ABC after going 10-4 with a 1.72 ERA, edging out Bert Dorr of the Chiefs (10-7, 1.48) and George Derby of the Chargers (10-5, 2.24).



In the NBC it was Aaron Jackson of the Saints who won his second Pitcher of the Year Award after going 12-4 with a 1.96 ERA, finishing ahead of Nick Hornburg of the Vikings (11-2, 2.13) and Al Atkinson of the Giants (11-6, 2.45).

Hardie Henderson (10-7, 2.24) of the Eagles was named Rookie of the Year in the NBC.

The Outstanding Hitter Awards went to Cletus Boyar of the Titans (.333, 6 HR, 16 RBI, 12 runs) and Mike Honan of the 49'ers (.435, 1 HR, 11 RBI).

[NYY #23]

The Bears are one of three undefeated teams that remain this season. Let's take a little closer look at the Bears this week -



Bill Sweeney has provided some stability at the top of the rotation since being drafted by the Bears. Last year Sweeney was 10-6 with a 2.56 ERA while this season Sweeney is undefeated with a 1.60 ERA.

Last year Sweeney and the Bears lost in the Nation League Championship to the Giants 7-4. The Bears have made the playoffs three times, never going farther than the League Championship Game, which they have lost twice. A closer look at their history:

[NYY #23]

Last year the Jets turned to veteran starter Pat Rehberg down the stretch and the 37 year old responded with 3 wins in his final 5 starts and was undefeated with a 4-0 record and 1.75 ERA on the road to the Jets first World Championship. Fast forward to this season and Rehberg has fallen to 0-7 with a 2.98 for the winless, last place Jets.

The Jets aren't the only playoff team from last year struggling though. The Eagles went from 10-6 playoff contenders to a disappointing 2-4 start as they sit in last place in the NBC East. 22 year old Hardie Henderson is actually pitching better this year walking fewer batters, striking out more batters, and allowing less hits, but is just 2-4 with a 2.44 ERA. The worst offense in the NBC is the culprit though with a .198 batting average and just 21 runs scored.

In Arizona Scott Young retired with a career record of 89-64 and the Cardinals gave the starting pitcher job to 29 year old Guy Hecker. His 1-6 record and 3.04 ERA haven't given Cardinals' fans much to cheer for as the sit in last place in the NBC West after making the playoffs last season.

Then finally in the NBC South the New Orleans Saints find themselves in the unfamiliar position of last place. Age may finally be catching up with 40 year old Aaron Jackson, who has never won fewer than 7 games in a season, but is 2-4 with a 3.18 ERA.

The 49'ers have gotten the better end of the offseason trade with the Eagles, acquiring SS Byron Laughlin who is leading the team with a .500 batting average. 29 year old Ron Hite is still looking for his first hit for the Eagles, while new Eagles shortstop Gid Gardner is hitting just .190.

[NYY #23]

[rjl518]

you do know of course i will be cheering for the MIAMI DOLPHINS!!!

GO PHINS!!!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by rjl518

you do know of course i will be cheering for the MIAMI DOLPHINS!!!

GO PHINS!!!

I've got good news, but mostly bad news coming up for the Dolphins.

[NYY #23]

As we fast forward to the end of the 1885 season we'll take a look at each of the division. We'll begin in the ABC East where the first question has to be what is wrong with the ABC East?

The Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots finished tied atop the division with a historically bad 6-10 record. The Dolphins and Patriots split their season series, but it's the Patriots who will go to the playoffs with a 4-2 division record. The Patriots were ranked 10th in runs scored, 13th in runs allowed, and 13th in defensive efficiency. Not exactly playoff material.



Things are so bad in New England that the Patriots are considering naming 21 year old Dave Williams their playoff starter after just 3 1/3 innings pitched this year. The top prospect may provide the Patriots with better chances than starter Devonte Durham, who struggled with a 3.18 ERA.

There is a lot wrong with the Dolphins, but it's hard to find fault with Alex Voss. Voss was a workhorse for the Dolphins with a 2.86 ERA. Voss also led the team with a .326 batting average.



25 year old Bryan Tosti is the toast of Buffalo following his first full season with the Bills. Tosti led the team with a .270 batting average, and finished second with 6 RBI.

After hitting .279 last year Jets' first baseman Rodney Hiseler hit just .213 this season. The 31 year old first baseman did lead the team with 10 RBI.

[NYY #23]

The Steelers survived three weeks without an injured Addison Coxen to hold on to the competitive ABC North. Coxen delivered a 9-4 record with a 2.01 ERA this season, but it was the Steelers offense who scored 6 runs in each of Dylan Smallwood's starts and the Steelers won 6-4 over the Bengals, 6-5 over the Chiefs, and 6-5 over the Jets in Coxen's absence. The Steelers .270 batting average was second in the ABC.



June was not kind to the Browns with 1 win and 3 losses, but the Browns were able to qualify for the playoffs with the second wild card because of a tie breaker. The Browns made a change with their starter this year and named former starter Tom Belles their starter, and he responded with an 8-5 record and 1.43 ERA. The Browns will be a team to watch in the playoffs with the third highest runs scored in the ABC and the lowest ERA in the league.

After being in control of the ABC North most of the season the Bengals dropped four of their final six games and will be watching the playoffs from home. 1B Sean Hopkins tied for the league lead with 4 home runs.

While Jim Britt was tagged with 11 losses for the Ravens his performance really suffered because of the league's worst defense. The Ravens were a dreadful 2-9 against right handers this year.