Minor Leaguers bout to make an Impact on S23

Position Players
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Philadelphia's Geoff Cunningham -  Cunningham has his name reserved in the starting lineup after 4 more games, and he plans to man left field and the 3 hole of the Colonials lineup for a long time.  What a great prospect!!

Trenton's Javier Rivera -  Rivera's combination of bat, baserunning, glove and makeup are great indicators a a long, successful big league career.......only his 51 health and catastrophic injury will derail this train. You know there's a spot in the bigs for Rivera!!

Pitchers

Milwaukee's Ossie Diaz - Wow.....what a staff bigjasui is going to be able to roll out......with Diaz locking up the #3 starter role for the next 10 year the rest of the NL North has got to be shaking in their boots.   What a scary 1-2-3 and all under 25.

Wichita's William Matsumoto -  Is he a SP or a LRA?  It doesn't really matter does it.....great control, a plus vR split and 3 quality pitches.....what's not to like.  barjaz has got a gem on his hands and could use the help now.

S23 Pre-Season Team Rankings

1)  Iowa City Rounders
2)  Trenton Thunder
3)  Charlotte Minute Men
4)  Los Angeles Dodgers
5)  St. Louis Red Birds
6)  Augusta Polar Bears
7)  Tampa Bay Don Caesars
8)  Milwaukee Boomers
9)  Jackson Coloniels
10) Scranton Squirrels
11) Colorado Shock
12)  Cincinnati Sextons
13)  Norfolk Turkeys
14)  San Francisco Bishes
15)  Texas Wildcats
16)  Clevland Cobalts
17)  Montreal Maroons
18)  Chicago Blagos
19)  Helena Peacemakers
20)  Washington DC Senators
21)  Richmond Ravens
22)  Wichita Rocks
23)  New Britain river rats
24)  New York Mets
25)  San Diego Beards of Zeus
26)  Rochester Rakers
27 ) Santa Fe Sluggers
28)  New Orleans Pelicans
29)  Louisville Lumber
30)  Philadelphia Colonials
31)  Tacoma XMEN
32)  Seattle Water Wolves

Welcome dawg39759

1) Why did you pick ARod?


       A:  Looking to play in a league and build a strong franchise.

2) What's your favorite aspect of HBD?


       A:  Competition and the chance to improve year to year.

3) What do you plan/hope to do with your new franchise?

        A :  Win a World Series :)

Welcome loosecc

1) Why did you pick ARod?



         A:  Why ARod? You happen to be seeking new owners just at the moment I'm looking to get hold of a franchise. It is several years (real time) since I last played on WIS and now seems a good time to get back into the swing of management. What is good to see is the very small number of non-returning members which tells me that the world is well liked, managed and enjoyed. Long may that continue. I certainly intend to be around for season 23 and the next decade!

2) What's your favorite aspect of HBD?


         A:  Favorite aspect? HBD allows you to see the rookies make their way up through the ranks and, hopefully, reach their potential in the majors. Of course, it is up to you just how quickly they progress - that's when you find out if your budget management is good: $ spent on training, coaches, medical or just pay over the odds for a few high profile guys to try obtaining instant success. Winning a game at any level feels like a success but then there is the disappointment at finding your star player has to go on the DL.

3) What do you plan/hope to do with your new franchise?

          A: Plans? The franchise did not have a bad season 22 but still fell short of bringing home titles. The ML roster needs some tweaking especially as the starting pitching roster consists of five left-handers: not a good balance! The batting line-up is short of power and a good HR hitter will be number one priority. The minor league rosters will be trawled to ensure that players are in the correct level for their experience and ability. I certainly feel comfortable in promoting a player if their performance suggests that they deserve a chance at the higher level but, equally, will drop a guy down a level or two if they are just not cutting it.

In reality, if I can manager the ML roster to an above-500 W/L record this coming season then I will be pleased. Playoffs a target for season 25 and a WS title by season 29. Only time will tell as will be my wheeling-and-dealing in the free agent and trade markets.

Welcome habslmets

1) Why did you pick ARod?

          A: I picked ARod for a couple of reasons. For one, I had finally decided to try HBD, and ARod was available. Second, I checked out your blog, and was impressed by how seriously everyone took the league.

2) What's your favorite aspect of HBD?


          A: There are many reasons why I enjoy HBD, and frankly my favorite part is just how in depth it is. Compared to some of the other dynasty games on WIS, HBD seems to be the closest to the real thing. It has everything from International Scouting, to the Rule 5 Draft and Arbitration. I'm new to HBD, but not to baseball in general, so I can't wait to get started.

3) What do you plan/hope to do with your new franchise?

           A:  I landed one of the worst franchises in the league, so I have realistic expectations. If I could hit the 70 win mark in my first season I would actually be happy, seeing as how I've never done HBD before and my team is really terrible. However I really hope to make a turn around quick, and a minimum have a winning record, and hopefully a playoff birth pretty soon.

Welcome phlsfan

1) Why did you pick ARod?


       A:  Seen a lot of veteran owners

2) What's your favorite aspect of HBD?



       A:   just being able to build the team the way you want via through draft and ifa and on occasion ditr

3) What do you plan/hope to do with your new franchise?

        A:    I plan on building this team for future while competing for division and so forth

AL Playoff and World Series Recap by cebola

In the AL 2nd round, Trenton stormed by Jackson after losing game 1 to (who else) Reese "Smokin'" Hemphil. They were already dealing with the abscence of superstar Nick Jacques to injury, and they could have been down 0-2 after blowing a 6-1 lead in the 8th of game 2. But they came back to win that one on a huge walk-off hit by Wade Kirk, and then took games 3 and 4 to win the series 3 games to 1. John Suzuki had a big 3-run blast in game 3 to overcome a defecit, and free-agent signee ace Pat Combs threw a gem in the clincher (7 innings, 1 ER, 11 K's.)

Jackson had another very fine season, and will continue to compete as they still have a solid core left from their not-to-distant champioship sason. Way to go, Jackson!

LA's series win over Charlotte took even more than all 5 games to be decided, as the final took went into extras. The series was marked by stellar pitching, especially in the first 2 games as the teams traded W's. "The Professor" Alex Gabriel pitched 8 and 2/3 in his win for Charlotte and LA's JD "Tool Belt" Schneider tossed 8 shutout innings in their game 2 win. Charlotte took game 3 and a 2-1 series lead then Felipe Estrada hit a game-winning HR in the 8th. LA need 13 innings to tie the series and force the game 5, but only after surrendering the lead in the 9th. Last season's Cy Young winner Travis Jones did something he only did 5 times during the past 2 seasons combined; blew a save on a Dan Larson RBI single.. But his teammates covered for him and took the game on a Travis Wells RBI double in the 13th. The deciding game had us all on the edge of our seats, as Charlotte had a slim lead heading into the 8th. LA tied it up and the game went to the 11th, where it was won on a "Bobby Thompson Style" walk-off HR by Andrew Gipson. Carlos "Exxon" Valdes pitched 3 and 2/3 crucial hitless innings for LA in the win.

Charlotte proved once again to be a force to be reckoned with, coming a few outs short of making it to the LCS. Since they always make it into the tournament, I'm betting a ring is in their near future. Great job once again.

In the LCS, LA went up 3-1 in the series, and things looked grim for Trenton, as they were still playing without slugger Nick Jacquez. Old "Tool Belt" Schneider pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball and their game 1 win, and they got a huge game 3 from Clay Stanley, who blasted 2 HR's. Trenton won game 2 on the back of their original ace Karl Hurst who went 8 shut-out innings for the win. LA tipped the scales to give them the 3-1 series lead by again working their extra inning magic. This time Tim James got the game-winning RBI in the 14th. With the medical team fighting and scrapping to get Jacquez back in there, the Trenton squad play their hearts out with their backs against the wall to get the game 5 victory. Combs spins a beauty to earn the win and Damaso Espinoza comes up big with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Game 6 finally marks the return of Jacquez and he makes LA rue the day for not taking care of business in game 5. Jacquez blasts 2 homeruns in his return and Karl Hurst gets his 2nd win of the series in the 5-0 Trenton victory. In the deciding game, Schneider has little in the tank as he attemps to go on three-days rest for LA, and he surrenders 6 in the 11-3 Trenton win. Jacquez continues his return party with another homer.

The Dodgers had another fantastic season and was not far from reaching the series. They have a strong well-balanced team on all levels and will undoubtedly be back bext season. I bet they can't wait to roll! Very nice job.


Very close games in all 4 World Series contests, but Iowa proves too much for Trenton. The Rounders overcame a 2-0 defecit to win game 1 4-3. Bruce Mullens goes 6 and surrenders only 2 runs. Game 2 was a walk-off, Sammy Cochrane Style, in Iowa's 3-2 win. Clinton "Puff Daddy" Puffy goes 6, surrendering only 2 to keep his team in it long enough to come through. Elrod "Rum &" Coke continues the trend of outstanding pitching by tossing 6 and 2/3 and giving up just a single run. It was Coke's 3rd win of the playoffs. Jaret Walters finally has a big playoff game in hitting a homer and driving in all of Iowa's runs in the 4-1 win. Mullens doesn't mess with the formula for victory as he pitches 6 innings of 1-run ball in the game 4 series clinching 4-1 victory. Super swing-man gets the final 9 outs for the save.

Congratulations to Trenton, who made the move from a tough, competive team, to a legit contender. The 1-2 punch of Hurst and Combs at the front of the rotation, and a healthy Nick Jacquez should keep them in the mix for seasons to come. Look out! Great job, Trenton; League Champions!


Iowa had a season for the ages. They led A.Rod with an amazing 112-50 record and .691 winning %. They won the division by 15 games; were 13 games better than the next best team in the NL, 11 games better that the next best team in the World. Their expected winning % was .702, based upon their run differential. Expected % is usually a solid indicator of how good (or bad) a team really is; any variance between expected and actual can usually be attributed to luck, as winning (or losing) close games can cause a variance. This means Iowa was actually UNLUCKY this season. They should have won 114, and with a little luck going the other way, could easily have won 116-120.

After an early 7 game losing streak and a tough 8-10 start to the season, they proceeded to go 104-40, which is a .722 winning %! They had another 6 game losing streak early on, but then they lost NO MORE THAN 2 IN A ROW at any point over their final 109 games! Their winning streaks just got longer and longer as the season went on; an 8 game streak, followed by a 12, and then a 16! Oh yeah, they finished their season with 8 games a row in the playoffs against the best competition. They went 11-1 in the post-season.

NL Rankings ...

Number 1 in team ERA at 2.89 (next best 3.47)
Number 1 in runs allowed 523 (next best 608)
Number 1 in WHIP 1.10 (next best 1.27)
Number 2 in fielding % .987

All pitching and run prevention? Not quite!

Number 2 in runs scored at 835; only Colorado's Murderer's Row Mach II scored more.

Iowa extended the contact of SP Clinton Puffer and has him through season 27. Mullens is signed through 24, and Coke is final-year arb eligible next season, and will undoubtedly be locked up long term. They realized they couldn't replace Gio Hernadez's innings and performance with 1 guy, so they signed a bunch of great alteratives to give them effective innings; Roger "Mister" Andrelcyzk (13-5 3.06 ERA), Andres Lopes (6-1, 1.44 ERA in relief), Carlton McGee (10-3, 7 saves, 3.24 ERA), Vinny Cortes (11-4 3.06 ERA), Jay Clemens (8-4, 2.86 ERA), and of course, PJ O'Shea (35/38 saves, 0.88 WHIP, 1.59 ERA).

The more research I do, the more frightened I am of having to compete in the same division! Excellent job, Ahsowhat, of putting together what will prove to be one of the best all-time seasons in A.Rod. You deserve the championship, enjoy the trophy!