Author Topic: 2104 Season Thread (Read 8396 times)

Huckleberry · « **on:** May 23, 2016, 07:31:18 PM »

This is the thread for all discussion for the 2104 season, our league's fifth. This first post will be updated throughout the season and will also include links to other threads or amendment votes that come up during this time.

7/24 sim is complete. Next sim (through the end of the WBA Championship Series) is Monday 7/25, exports due by 9:00 pm Central. Playoff sims are one week or through all series in progress, whichever comes first.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #1 on:** May 23, 2016, 09:20:27 PM »

Preseason predictions:

ABL
IBL

The predictions say there will be 3 decent divisional races and also Paris winning by 22 games.

squaredrive · « **Reply #2 on:** May 24, 2016, 07:09:35 AM »

On the first set of sims, the AI made a bunch of odd lineup choices and pitching choices as well, which contradict how I have my team set up.

For example, in my very first game the AI started my utility infielder at SS and batted him 4th - in my depth chart he "never starts". AI also had players starting at secondary positions.

For my pitching staff, I have the rotation set as a "strict 5-man rotation" and in 5 games, the AI started my top 2 guys twice and a reliever who is not in my rotation.

Any ideas? I just downloaded the latest file and confirmed my lineup and settings.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #3 on:** May 24, 2016, 08:22:23 AM »

That's weird. No idea what happened there, I just double checked and you are definitely set to full human control on everything.

Oh, just found it. You still have your 7-day lineups on, probably from last year's playoffs.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #4 on:** May 24, 2016, 09:30:16 AM »

Quote from: Huckleberry on May 23, 2016, 09:20:27 PM

Preseason predictions:

ABL
IBL

The predictions say there will be 3 decent divisional races and also Paris winning by 22 games.

After looking at these I noticed that the game carried over last year's one-game standings playoff games. I am deleting the Buenos Aires @ Bogota and London @ Paris games that were automatically scheduled for Monday 9/22/2104.

squaredrive · « **Reply #5 on:** May 24, 2016, 09:33:23 AM »

a-ha! thanks huck, appreciated!

claphamsa · « **Reply #6 on:** May 24, 2016, 05:15:15 PM »

i approve of these projections

APMP · « **Reply #7 on:** May 24, 2016, 09:46:08 PM »

Any preseason prediction that doesn't have last year's triple crown winner in the top 10 hitters is suspect.

capn81 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 04, 2016, 03:52:10 PM »

I have set the AI to control my team. I will be out of town until next weekend.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #9 on:** June 08, 2016, 08:54:21 PM »

My late big FA signing is out for 4 months. Awesome.

capn81 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 14, 2016, 05:46:24 PM »

Gotta love that!

Huckleberry · « **Reply #11 on:** June 17, 2016, 08:32:02 PM »

The injury gods hate me this year. As of the completion of tonight's sim my starting RF, 2B, 3B, and CF are out injured while my starting SS just got back from a month long injury.

Echo127 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 17, 2016, 08:45:58 PM »

Oof, that hurts. Meanwhile, I've been absurdly injury free, but haven't had a winning week until tonight's sim.

Edit: Playing your injury-riddled team may have helped my cause ;-).

Havana_Jake · « **Reply #13 on:** June 26, 2016, 10:54:52 PM »

BUENOS AIRES--By this time next week, teams will have crossed the 100-game threshold. In the Americas Baseball League's Latin American Division, a three-horse race has developed. Those three horses are the Santo Domingo Palmchats, the Buenos Aires Dolphins, and the Sao Paulo Toucans. This article will take a look at each of those three teams in order to identify how they have gotten themselves into playoff contention, and what it will take to get over the hump and into the postseason.

Santo Domingo

The Palmchats are in first place in the Latin American division by two games. It is their offense that deserves the credit for their success. Their 491 runs lead the entire Americas League by a commanding 15 runs. Santo Domingo relies on a balanced attack on offense. 7 of their 8 regular position players are hitting at least .289. All this output at the plate is in spite of injuries to key players Mehdi Khalfan, Felipe Escalon, and Will Jones. Escalon and Jones are slated to return in two weeks, at which point the rest of the league will have to deal with an even more potent lineup.

However, if there is anything in which the Palmchats' competitors can take solace, it is the less than stellar run prevention Santo Domingo fans have seen thus far. The 468 runs that Palmchat pitchers have surrendered is good for 6th of the 10 teams in the Americas League. Their pitchers have been especially vulnerable to the home run ball, giving up 103 so far this season, good for 2nd most in the ABL. If their pitching is going to turn it around, they will need a stronger contribution from veteran starting pitcher Tyler Newman, who has posted a 4.11 ERA after an especially disappointing 5.04 showing in 2103.

Competitors will be hoping that they can slow Santo Domingo's bats enough to benefit from their less-than-stingy pitching. Whether that will happen remains to be seen.

Starting Pitcher Tyler Newman

Buenos Aires Dolphins

Buenos Aires has been the polar opposite of Santo Domingo in 2104. The Dolphins' pitching has been nothing less than remarkable. The Americas League's top 3 starting pitchers by ERA all reside in Buenos Aires. The 364 runs the team has surrendered stands as the best mark in the ABL. The starting rotation is due for improvement yet, as Vincente Rodriguez is due to return from the disabled list at any moment. The pitching staff is bolstered by a defense that has racked up a +24.8 zone rating, a mark that is also good for first in the ABL.

However, the formidable Dolphin defense cannot always depend on much of a cushion from the bats. The 421 runs they have scored ranks them 8th in the ABL and last in the Latin American Division. They have been especially strikeout prone, registering 856 so far this year, which is the 3rd worst in the Americas. However, they have been able to belt 103 home runs, which stands at 4th in the ABL. Perhaps the offense will be bolstered by 24 year old centerfield prospect Antonio Hernandez, who has posted an eye popping .309/.376/.526 in 43 AAA games.

Whether or not the Dolphins are able to see the postseason will depend on whether their offense can supply enough runs for their extraordinary pitching and defense.

Centerfield Prospect Antonio Hernandez

Sao Paulo

No one in the league wants to see a team run by Allen Iverson (AI) to win a division, but Sao Paulo may do just that. They currently sit 2.5 games behind the division leading Palmchats. Unlike the extremely offensive or defensive approaches of Santo Domingo and Buenos Aires, respectively, the Toucans have used a very balanced approach to rack up their 52-47 record.

They have been led by a 20 year old shortstop named Carlos "Spud" Vargas. Vargas has belted 21 home runs while also getting on base at a .330 clip. He will surely be a force to be reckoned with for years to come in the ABL.

Vargas has been aided by the contributions of Sao Paulo's formidable 1-2 pitching punch of Michael Shields and Roberto Morales. The pair have gone a combined 21-10 while compiling ERAs of 2.91 and 2.85, respectively. Altogether, the group has amassed a pythagorean record of 55-44, good for second in Latin America behind Buenos Aires. If "Spud" Vargas can power this team to a division championship, he will have made the beginnings of his sure-to-be phenomenal legacy.

Carlos "Spud" Vargas

***

It is anyone's guess what will happen in the final two months of the season, but one can count on a thrilling finish as these three Latin American division teams duke it out atop the division.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #14 on:** June 27, 2016, 07:58:54 AM »

Very nice review of the season so far.

Havana_Jake · « **Reply #15 on:** June 27, 2016, 08:54:02 AM »

Thanks! Do you think there's any way we could create a forum for articles and comments on articles?

Jack-Bogota · « **Reply #16 on:** July 02, 2016, 07:43:13 AM »

Hi all, Bogota here, just looking things over. Glad to be here.

Karachi_GM · « **Reply #17 on:** July 02, 2016, 10:39:31 AM »

Well, Karachi went 5-2 in my first week. Brilliant general managing? I think not. Playing 37-80 Lagos helped. We did win 3 of 4 from Seoul which has a record over .500. Karachi will be trying to win games and not tanking for draft pick purposes.

Karachi had over 70 players in its organization earning major league salaries. All but 13 earning the league minimum and only 7 earned more than $300K. Gotta love that AI - signing, waiving, designating for assignment, and signing some more. 70! Never saw anything like that on any team. I have started the cleansing process. Nine salaried players have been released. Thirteen more have refused minor league extensions and will disappear into free agency at the end of the season. Thirteen more again are not now on the 40-man roster, not eligible for minor league free agency, and will revert to minor league salaries next year. After some more minor cleansing, the salaried player list will be at manageable levels come the off season.

Once all that happens I can start figuring out how to make Karachi a contender.

Coop · « **Reply #18 on:** July 02, 2016, 10:45:21 AM »

Welcome to the WBA, Jack Bogota.

I think Karachi can be competitive sooner rather than later. The organization has some good young talent. Clean up the AI salary mess, and the team could get good in a hurry.

Karachi_GM · « **Reply #19 on:** July 04, 2016, 02:38:55 PM »

2nd sim: 2-4, all road games.
On the plus side we took 2 of 3 from Black Forest, and the 3 losses to division leading Mumbai were all close.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #20 on:** July 07, 2016, 06:31:13 AM »

My Santo Domingo squad is finally regressing to the mean, or at least to pythagorean projection. Just in time to choke the playoffs away, too.

APMP · « **Reply #21 on:** July 07, 2016, 07:25:02 AM »

Saw that Twinkletoes got hurt, thank god it's only a couple of weeks.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #22 on:** July 09, 2016, 09:16:27 AM »

While my team's late season choke is almost complete, at least the Santo Domingo fans can look forward to the fact that John Pottle should become the first WBA player to the 1,000 career hit mark during the next sim. He currently stands at 996 hits.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #23 on:** July 12, 2016, 04:44:21 PM »

Quote from: APMP on July 07, 2016, 07:25:02 AM

Saw that Twinkletoes got hurt, thank god it's only a couple of weeks.

Saw that he finished off the back-to-back triple crowns.

claphamsa · « **Reply #24 on:** July 12, 2016, 05:39:33 PM »

under 500 in the last 2 months does not bode well for the playoffs.

APMP · « **Reply #25 on:** July 12, 2016, 06:54:38 PM »

Best record in the WBA...hopefully can ride home field advantage to a championship. Back-to-back triple crown winner will hopefully lead from the front and make it happen.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #26 on:** July 13, 2016, 08:36:17 PM »

First playoff sim complete. Unfortunately for APMP his team remains cursed in the playoffs as Twinkletoes has a disastrous series (3-for-21) and the Cobras fall in 5 games. Congratulations also to Los Angeles who defeated Buenos Aires in 5 games.

The Singapore/Paris and São Paulo/Milwaukee series are headed to Game 6.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #27 on:** July 13, 2016, 08:44:47 PM »

Okay, so I looked it up and Mumbai has won 91, 85, 93, 93, and now 94 games in our 5 seasons. Pythagorean expected records of 93, 94, 93, 94, and now 94 games.

Two playoff series wins and still no WBA Championship Series appearances.

APMP · « **Reply #28 on:** July 13, 2016, 09:27:43 PM »

Maybe Mumbai will win when the Cubs do?

Echo127 · « **Reply #29 on:** July 13, 2016, 10:40:03 PM »

Quote from: APMP on July 13, 2016, 09:27:43 PM

Maybe Mumbai will win when the Cubs do?

I don't think you need to stoop *that* low. (Brewer's fan).

Huckleberry · « **Reply #30 on:** July 20, 2016, 07:18:32 AM »

São Paulo vs. Los Angeles in the ABL Finals and Scottish vs. Singapore in the IBL Finals.

This is Singapore's 4th appearance in the IBL Finals in the WBA's 5 seasons so far. They are 3-0 in their previous appearances.

Karachi_GM · « **Reply #31 on:** July 21, 2016, 02:58:24 PM »

Break Up Singapore!!

Huckleberry · « **Reply #32 on:** July 23, 2016, 12:25:11 PM »

2104 WBA Championship Series:

Los Angeles Stars vs. Scottish Claymores

Huckleberry · « **Reply #33 on:** July 25, 2016, 08:46:41 PM »

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Stars, 2104 WBA Champions with a 5 games to 2 victory over the Scottish Claymores.

We are now in the offseason. I hope to start our daily offseason sims on Wednesday. Before then, please take the time to vote in the utilities for postseason awards, etc. And begin setting up your offseason moves.

Please note that the financials will be updated and a new league file will be uploaded without simming any days. That should happen by Wednesday.

Huckleberry · « **Reply #34 on:** July 26, 2016, 08:19:30 AM »

New league file with updated financials is up.

Because of the weird way that the game tracks financials, or at least the weird way it reports them to the CSV files, in the offseason you are better off looking here for your current financials if you want to see them online while not actually in the game:

http://www.worldbaseballassociation.com/reports/news/html/leagues/league_100_financial_report.html
http://www.worldbaseballassociation.com/reports/news/html/leagues/league_105_financial_report.html

Huckleberry · « **Reply #35 on:** July 31, 2016, 11:00:16 AM »

Only because I noticed one of my teams won, here are the 2104 minor league champions:

ABL AAA - Recife Jaguars (Rio de Janeiro)
ABL AA - Puerto Plata Taimascaros (Santo Domingo)
ABL A - Goiania Toucans (São Paulo)
ABL R - Resistencia Dolphins (Buenos Aires)

Resistencia won their 4th consecutive ABL rookie league championship. The La Romana Toros (Santo Domingo) won in 2100 and since then it's been all Dolphins.

IBL AAA - Sapporo Samurai (Tokyo)
IBL AA - Suwon Badgers (Seoul)
IBL A - Aba Eagles (Lagos)
IBL R - Sargodha Falcons (Karachi)

So given that the Los Angeles Stars and the Scottish Claymores won the big league level titles, we had 10 different organizations represented by the 10 title winners at all levels.

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Author Topic: 2104 Season Thread (Read 8396 times)

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