The Career of Jonathan Sanders

[Chipper_Jones]

Back in June of 2003, Major League Baseball agreed to a one team expansion, adding the Vancouver Canadians to the AL West. But the Commissioner, in an unusual move, said that if the city wanted to have a team, they'd have to fill it with rookies who expressed interest, with tryouts for pretty much anyone. There would be no expansion draft.

My name is Jonathan Sanders. I'm 22 years old, and have played ball since high school, and hey … I've always thought of myself as a solid closer. So I packed my bags, and the $25,000 I'd saved up from various jobs I'd held over the years, and hopped a plane to Vancouver from back east in Indiana. And after a month of tryouts, in which apparently I must have impressed someone, I got the note from GM Clay Dreslough: "Congratulations, you've made the team. Stop by the front office to sign your rookie contract."

That's how I found myself as the closer for the Vancouver Canadians. At the young age of 22, I've gone from being a has-been high school player with no real aspirations, I'm now signed to a deal worth $300,000 for the next six seasons! I may be with a weak expansion team, but I'm in the majors!

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2004
The month of April went surprisingly well for us, considering we're a team of relative nobodies. We finished April with a 12-15 (.444) record, which puts us in fourth place in the five-team AL West. At least, we say, we're ahead of Texas … the Rangers are struggling at 10-17 (.370). We're 4.5 games behind Anaheim and Seattle, who lead the division with 16-10 records. We're batting .285 (the best in the division!) But our 5.70 team ERA is the WORST in the division. But I sure didn't have a bad month, not by any stretch of the imagination! I played in fourteen of our 27 games, putting up an 0-1 record with five saves. But the clincher was my 0.71 ERA! Fans want to think I've got a shot at rookie of the year honors, but I think they're half joking. I mean, our team is FULL of rookie of the year candidates, as we're ALL rookies!

May 2004
This month we went 12-15 again, which puts us at 24-30 on the season, just half a game out of last place in the AL West. We've slipped to .283 on our team batting average (which is now a distant fourth in the division) and our ERA is up slightly to 5.43. I, meanwhile, have 10 saves, and have an 0-2 record … but my ERA has come back down to earth. After 22.1 innings in 26 appearances, I have a 2.01 ERA. But I'm starting to feel more comfortable up against tough MLB batters (and in the toughest pitching park in the nation, no less, with a centerfield wall back only 315 feet!) Truthfully, I'm expecting this to be my only year in Vancouver … I could see Dreslough using my status as a solid closer to trade for bigger names. And frankly, I wouldn't blame him. Expansion teams have to fight for fans, and fans want stars.

[Chipper_Jones]

June 2004
This month saw a dip in our record. We went 9-15, falling to 33-45 on the year. Our hitting's down to .277, but our team pitching has improved quite a bit, to 5.19 … mostly due to strong pitching by myself (0-4, 2.27 ERA, 13 SV, 3 BS) and top starter Walter Bryan (5-4, 3.35 ERA). But I'd be remiss to ignore the performances of our pair of (sure-to-be-)superstars Chris Scoville (.329, 14 HR) and Jose Formoselle (.314, 15 HR), who play center and right field respectively. We've also seen strong hitting from our DH, Alex Brunk (.320, 8 HR) but that's a position where strong hitting's a prerequisite. Heading into the stretch of the season, I've heard Clay's under pressure to get players to put the team closer to .500 … and I'm told that thanks to my weaker performance last year, he's got me on the block (the three blown saves hurt, but I'm a little bothered that this has lowered my "status" so much … I mean, I am just a rookie, and aside from Bryan, our starters don't really give me much to work with. Oh well. I'll await my destiny …

July 7, 2004 - Vancouver slipped to 34-48 back on Independence Day, so we're heading into the All Star weekend without much working for us. We've lost three games straight (the one game we DIDN'T lose this month so far was thanks to me getting the save in front of 32,000 Anaheim fans). And I've finally gotten word from Clay that I have indeed been traded … to Tampa Bay for Eduardo Perez (RF) and Victor Zambrano (SP). The Devil Rays, at 38-47, are similarly out of the playoff race (by about ten miles) but they're trying to make a move toward building a solid team that can compete in the AL East. I'll take over the Setup role on the bench, with John Rocker (2-3, 17 SV) still holding the closer role.

[Chipper_Jones]

July 2004
As July comes to a close, Tampa Bay is now 42-59, dead last in the AL East. The team is hitting .276, with a 5.18 team ERA. Since arriving here in Tampa, I've still been unable to get my first win. In fact, I went 0-2 (that's 0-6 so far) and my ERA crashed to 6.35 (3.27 overall). I got one save and one blown save. At this point, I'm already working to plan out my training regimen … which includes working on my endurance … I'm starting to think that if I want to be a key bullpen performer, I'll need to work on being able to pitch more than an inning a game. Besides, I really don't want to be a "token ninth inning" pitcher … I always admired the closers of old, who really had to EARN their saves.

August 2004
We finished August with a 50-75 record, 32 games behind New York (80-41) who are one game up on Boston (83-46). Those two are duking it out over who gets to win the AL East title, as the loser will almost certainly get the Wild Card (Boston leads the WC race by a large margin … their nearest competitor for that spot is Oakland (70-54). Our hitting isn't strong (.269, dead last in the East division) while our pitching held relatively steady with a team ERA of 5.22 (also last in the division). I am now 1-4 since joining Tampa Bay's team (1-8 overall on the season) with a 4.42 cumulative ERA (7.18 ERA with Tampa). No new saves, just an extra blown save. Heading into the final month-and-a-half, we're all looking toward next year … and hoping that perhaps our beleagured Devil Rays could muster a 60-win season at least.

September / October 2004
With the new 31-team schedule, teams now play through mid-October before the Playoffs get going. We posted an 11-13 record in September, and then crashed again in October (3-10) to finish with a 64-98 season tally. Could have been worse … though not much. Only Detroit had a worse record (even Vancouver posted a solid second half to the season, going 75-87). We finished the year batting .270 as a team, with a team ERA of 5.19. I went 3-6 with Tampa this season, for a 7.07 ERA and a save (with two blown). That brought my cumulative season total to 3-10, with a 4.94 ERA and 15 saves (with five blown). I did play in 81 games, impressive for a rookie, and racked up 74.2 innings on the mound.

[Chipper_Jones]

2004 Playoffs (Results)

AL Division Series
Boston (101-61) beat Anaheim (102-60) in five games, 3-2.
New York (103-59) beat Minnesota (87-75) in a 3-0 sweep.

NL Division Series[/u]
Atlanta (100-62) beat St. Louis (94-68) in a 3-0 sweep.
San Diego (80-82) seriously upset Philadelphia (101-61) in a five game, 3-2 series win.

AL Championship Series
New York beat Boston in seven games.

NL Championship Series
Atlanta swept San Diego in four.

World Series
11/10 (Game 1): Atlanta (3) @ New York (2)
11/11 (Game 2): Atlanta (2) @ New York (4)
11/13 (Game 3): New York (7) @ Atlanta (2)
11/14 (Game 4): New York (7) @ Atlanta (8)
11/15 (Game 5): New York (2) @ Atlanta (1)
11/17 (Game 6): Atlanta (12) @ New York (5)
11/18 (Game 7): Atlanta (3) @ New York (7)

The Yanks win, 4-3.

[Chipper_Jones]

Minor League Draft (1/17/05)
Tampa Bay made the following draft picks:

1. Luis Amadeo: 80 (Peak: 96) - 24 year old CF
2. Bill Mullaney: 74 (Peak: 87) - 22 year old SP
3. Trent Miller: 64 (Peak: 86) - 21 year old SP
4. Carlos Bernal: 59 (Peak: 81) - 20 year old 1B
5. Mark Koffler: 63 (Peak: 72) - 22 year old RF
6. Chad Ross: 57 (Peak: 64) - 26 year old RP

Luis Amadeo is expected to be the team's new DH … Mullaney will likely be second in our starting rotation … Trent Miller, meanwhile, will be the top pitcher in our AAA affiliate this year. Ross, Koffler and Bernal will also spend their seasons in AAA, according to the coaches and our GM.

I'm glad for one thing … that I'm not a GM. This is the kind of year that makes a manager go nuts. We've got a number of solid young players who (after this year) could hit free agency. And the way it looks, most of them appear to be asking for too much (we all know how strained the Tampa finances are … the coaches drill that into our heads when we ask for bonuses. Though at least they're not close to as bad as Comiskey was with his "Black Sox"). Anyway, the first casualty has been John Rocker. The team had traded for me to become their closer, not their setup guy (as they'd used me for all last year) … so it was either drop Rocker in the year of his contract ending (and pay, I'm estimating, $390,000) or trade him. On January 21, the owner announced he'd traded Rocker to Anaheim for $6 million. Done deal.

Which means, as you've probably figured, unless I totally flop in Spring Training, I've got the closer spot!

Spring Training
In six spring training games, I improved my ERA to 4.73, but posted no wins, no losses and no saves. But what seems to have impressed the coaches is my .245 on base average, which is down from .272 last year! I'm feeling good, heading into my second year as a major leaguer. Hopefully I'll make a real splash this year in Tampa, and earn the fans' respect.

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2005
We got off to a 3-0 start, and fans started to dream. Then we got kicked back down to earth (4-5), rebounded (16-8), and finished the month at 16-12. Talk about a roller-coaster ride. We're currently in third place in the AL East, just five games back of New York (21-7). We're hitting .283 (#1 in the division), our pitchers have a team ERA of 4.84 (#4 in the division) and we're hoping to recover in May from this four game losing streak. I've started off with a 1-1 record and a 6.92 ERA, which is still unsettlingly high. I've thrown 13 innings in 13 games, for six saves and one blown save. Not bad, but I can't expect to keep saving games if I'm giving up 10 earned runs in 13 innings. At least my OBA is still a solid .235, which is something to build on.

Bill Mullaney, our rookie starter, is having a rough first year … he's 1-5 in six starts, with an 8.77 ERA in 25.2 innings. He may not last long in the majors if the managers can find a suitable replacement. He'll likely drop back down into AAA, to get more development time.

May 1, 2005: A few big trades went through tonight, after hours … and went completely under the radar. We sent two sets of essentially unknown rooks, and in turn got Kazuhisa Ishii from LA (5-0) and Kyle Lohse from San Francisco (5-0)! Which gives us three of the top starters in the league (including, at #2, Jeremi Gonzalez … who has gone 5-1 for Tampa this season!) This takes pressure off of Mullaney, who moves down to fourth in the rotation.

May 2005
We had a fairly lousy month of May, going 11-15, which evens our record to 27-27. That puts us in fourth, but we're only four games back of New York (31-23). And we're ten games ahead of Toronto, who are stinking up the league at 14-34. We're hitting strongly, at .284 (#1 AL-E) and our ERA has improved to 4.59, which is still fourth in the league but closing in on the Yanks (#1) who have a team ERA of 4.46. As for my performance this month, I remain 1-1, but my ERA has improved greatly to 5.33, and I have nine saves, with that one blown save, in 25.1 innings pitched (22 games). Not bad, though I'm a perfectionist, and am still disappointed that I haven't been able to contribute more to the team.

June 2005
Our hopes of battling for a wildcard spot or anything of that sort got shot down the crapper this month. We went 7-16, and are now 34-43 heading into July, still in fourth, 15.5 games back of New York. And with Vancouver (52-25) and Seattle (51-24) battling it out in the west, it's clear that the WC is going to one of them barring a second half miracle improvement for someone else in the AL. Our hitting is still quite strong (.285) but our team ERA crashed to 4.93, leaving quite a gap between us and the likes of Baltimore (4.45) and New York (4.09). I crashed as well … kiss last month's improvements goodbye. I'm now 1-4 on the season, with a 6.89 ERA. This month I got two saves and blew three. Nothing but a disappointment.

[Chipper_Jones]

July 2005
July wasn't half bad, though a 12-8 month doesn't dig us out of our hole. We're 46-51, in third place in the AL East by one game over Boston (46-53) but still 16 games behind New York (63-36) and 14.5 games back from the Wildcard Race. Our team's still hitting .289, and our ERA is now third in the division, at 4.78 (about 0.20 above the league average). I'm, meanwhile, 2-5 on the year, with a 6.14 ERA, 19 saves and six blown saves. But hey, I've exceeded last year's save total, and with the chance to play in perhaps another 35 games or so, I could be on track to break 35 saves if I'm lucky.

August 2005
August was awful. We digressed again, going 10-15 to fall to 56-66 on the season. Our hitting's off (.283) but our pitching's improving again (4.62 ERA) … yet we're now 20.5 games behind New York, and 17 games out of the WC race. We' d have to have an undefeated September in order to consider ourselves "in the race", and that's surely not gonna happen … I'm still 2-5, but my ERA has improved to 6.10, and I have 23 saves, having given up NO BLOWN SAVES this month! I can live with that.

Anyway, we're looking to beat last year's 64-98 record, and seem to have a solid team built up to run for something next year … though I don't really get much of a look into what the GM chooses to do until he does it.

September 2005
We had a great 9-3 start to September, including a three game home sweep against the Yanks spanning the 12th through the 14th! And we kept it up! At home against the Yanks again, we beat them on the 17th, 18th and 19th, then on the 21st, before losing to them on the 22nd … yeah, I know, the scheduling's a little funky what with the odd one team expansion for Vancouver last year … and we handled ourselves smoothly from there, ending the month with a 73-74 record! With 15 games left, we're not far from being eliminated (we're still 14 back of the WC race, and 16.5 behind New York … so we'd have to go 14-1 in October to have a shot at the AL Wildcard … which is a long shot, considering that the AL West is so damned competitive: Vancouver leads (95-55) in their second season since joining the majors, followed by Seattle (88-61) and Texas (85-67). Heading into October, I've earned a 3-6 record and 5.43 ERA in 63 relief appearances (59.2 innings). I got SEVEN SAVES this month, again with none blown, which gives me 30 saves in 36 opportunities!

October 2005
We were officially eliminated from the playoff race after we lost our second game of October, on the 9th, against Texas (6-4). That started a skid in which we went 2-10, ending the month with a 5-10 record … and a 78-84 record for the season. A fourteen win improvement over last season, so we're pretty happy even though we finished in fourth place in the AL East and 20 games back of New York. I finished my season with 66 appearances that gave me a 3-6 record, a 5.20 ERA, and 31 saves. My OBA was .230 in 62.1 innings pitched.

[Chipper_Jones]

2005 Playoffs (Results)

AL Division Series
New York (98-64) beat Seattle (94-68) in four games.
Vancouver (102-60) beat Cleveland (95-67) in five.

NL Division Series
Los Angeles (105-57) swept St. Louis (93-69) in three.
Atlanta (104-58) beat Milwaukee (94-68) in four.

AL Championship Series
Vancouver beat Seattle in a seven game series.

NL Championship Series
Los Angeles beat Atlanta in six games.

World Series
11/9 (Game 1): Vancouver (2) @ Los Angeles (3)
11/10 (Game 2): Vancouver (8) @ Los Angeles (7)
11/12 (Game 3): Los Angeles (2) @ Vancouver (1)
11/13 (Game 4): Los Angeles (5) @ Vancouver (1)
11/14 (Game 5): Los Angeles (6) @ Vancouver (3)

Los Angeles stumped Vancouver 4-1.

Minor League Draft (1/17/06)
Tampa Bay made the following draft picks:

1. Juan Morgovejo: 75 (Peak: 89) - 22 year old SP
2. Luke Levinson: 70 (Peak: 83) - 25 year old 1B
3. Tom Taylor: 62 (Peak: 78) - 22 year old RF
4. Josh Oettli: 59 (Peak: 77) - 24 year old LF
5. Jorge Ashburn: 51 (Peak: 72) - 22 year old SS
6. Damon Wilkinson: 55 (Peak: 71) - 21 year old RP

Levinson will be our top bench contributor this year, while Taylor, Ashburn and Oettli will spend this year in AAA. Morgovejo will be our spot starter at the beginning of the 2006 season, but Wilkenson's not close to ready for the bullpen yet. He'll spend this year in AAA, close to the bottom of the heap.

Spring Training
I played in eight games during Spring Training, going 0-0 with an ERA of 4.32 … I earned one save and blew the other opportunity, with a .242 on base average. Here's a snapshot of my ability ratings according to our trainers, heading into my third season:

Endurance: 20
Control: 88
Power: 87
Movement: 94
Defense: 57
Hitting: 58
Health: 96

So far in two seasons I've played in 147 games, earning a 6-16 record, a 5.06 ERA and 46 saves in 57 chances.

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2006
The first month of the season was a rather weak one (we started off 13-12) but it was good enough to keep us in second, just four games back of Baltimore in the AL East! We hit .285 as a team, and our pitchers threw for a 4.81 ERA. But while Baltimore's got weak hitting (.260, which is below average as far as the AL is concerned) they do have the best pitching in the American League, with a 2.73 ERA. As for my first month, I played in 10 games, going 0-1 with a solid 1.42 ERA and four saves in four shots! My OBA makes most batters shudder, as it's a rock-bottom .140 … I've also thrown 12 strikeouts in 12 innings, which puts me well on my way to best last year's total of 57.

May 2006
Well, we'd all like to forget May … 7-18 May … we're now 20-30, dead last in the AL East, 13.5 games back on Baltimore. Our hitting has cooled off (.271) while our pitching is at least close to where it was (team ERA was 4.89). But we ended the month on a six game losing streak. I survived the terrible month with a 2-2 record in 24 appearances, a 3.10 ERA … and NO additional saves … I only had one opportunity, and I blew it. We're all hoping to make a serious recovery in June. Otherwise this season may end up being over before it's begun. And I might find the owners more willing to decide to trade a young guy like me for big names … and I'd rather have job security. I like it here in Tampa.

June 2006
June wasn't a bad month by most stretches … though a 14-10 record is only a start. We're still very unpredictable, which doesn't make for easy playoff runs. But as of the first of July, we're now 34-40, and have moved into fourth in the AL East. We're 14 games back of first, but we're moving closer to second (we're tied with New York, and Boston's only 4.5 games ahead of the two of us). Meanwhile, I've got my first winning record! I'm 4-2 so far (in 35 appearances, throwing for 39.2 innings!) My ERA is now 2.27, and I've added six saves to my total, bringing this year's tally to ten.

July 2006
We started out July on a 5-1 tear, and hit the All Star Weekend with a 39-41 record, just a game and a half behind Boston (they're in second) and 14 games behind Baltimore! From there, we continued to roll, until a four game skid at Boston curtailed our streak. The month ended with a road loss to Toronto, and our month ended with another 14-10 record (after starting out 14-5 … figures). We're currently 48-50 heading into August, 14.5 games behind Baltimore (62-35) and three games back of Boston (51-47). We're hitting .279, and our ERA is 4.44. As for my record, I slipped this month to 4-4, and my ERA is 2.86. I've played in 46 games, and I've got 17 saves and two blown saves.

August 2, 2006 - I'm still getting used to the fact that the league moved the trade deadline to August 15 because of the now-extended season through October. It was today that I got a shocking call from our GM. Seems the owner wants to use my "potential" to nab some bigger players. Seems I haven't panned out like he's hoped. He sent me to Pittsburgh as part of a massive ten player deal … that in part gets him Carlos Delgado, the league's best hitter and first baseman. So while I was looking forward to staying in Tampa for a few more years at least, now I've got to move to Pennsylvania … where the playoff race is really heating up.

The Pirates are 51-48, in fifth in the NL Central … they're ahead only of Houston (23-75). But the big thing is this: Milwaukee (60-40) and Chicago (60-40) lead the division, and right now that puts Chicago as the Wild Card holder. Cincinnati is in third (53-45), St. Louis is half a game behind (53-46). And that leaves us, 8.5 games back, and suddenly it's clear that they should be able to use me. I'll take over the closing spot, and they'll be counting on me to push the team into the playoffs. I have to wonder if I'll be trade bait if they don't make it in. Best not to worry about that though … I arrived at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon, and tonight at 7:05 I've got to be in uniform; they may use me in the home game against the Reds.

[Chipper_Jones]

August 2006
We started the month off 6-1, and we finished it with three wins out of four against the New York Mets, which gave us a 19-10 record on the month! That puts Pittsburgh at 70-57, third in the NL Central, and only SEVEN GAMES BACK of Milwaukee (76-49)! The team is hitting .282 (#1 in the NL Central) and has a team ERA of 5.05 (#5 in the NL Central) heading into September! Since arriving in Pittsburgh, I've gone 3-0 in 22 games, with a 4.42 ERA and NINE saves in 11 chances … which gives me 26 saves this year! Five more and I break my career record of 31 set last year!

September 2006
We were on a roll to start off September! We went three for four at home against Denver … then won two of three at St. Louis, and three of four against the Mets on the road! That gave us an 8-3 start, quite a roll to be on in this race for the pennant! Next up would be a four game home stand against my former team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Who gutted us, sweeping the four game series, and setting us back to 8-7 on the month. We then split a four game series against LA here at home, which set us up to end the month at Philadelphia. With a 10-9 record, we need these four wins. We split the series 2-2, and ended the month with a 12-11 record. Which puts us at 82-68, 6.5 games back of Chicago, and in FOURTH place. We have twelve games in twelve days to start October and show we're playoff material. There's no margin for error.

We're hitting this month at .274, with a team ERA of 4.91. But we've got no real lead margin in any stat against the remaining teams we must outsprint down the stretch: Chicago, Cincinnati and Milwaukee. I played in 11 of our 23 games in September, and I now have a 4-0 record in Pittsburgh, a 4.71 ERA, and 14 saves in 17 chances! I've tied my career best, 31 … but it's not about that … it's about me getting in there and making sure any time I get the game with lead in hand, I keep it. We NEED to make the playoffs!

October 2006
We started a four game homestand against the Phillies by winning our first two … and then bombed in our second pair. That leaves us with eight straight road games, four at Denver, four at Montreal. We split the series at Denver, and then STUNNED the Expos, by sweeping them, to end the month at 8-4! But it was too little … too late. Chicago won the NL Central crown (93-69) while Milwaukee (92-70) missed out on the wildcard, as San Francisco had gone on an end-of-season run to finish 97-65, second in the NL West behind LA (106-56). So they took the wild card, with four teams in rough contention behind them. It would have been five, without Chicago winning the NL Central with their 93 wins … because San Fran had three more wins than them.

I finished my season with 41 games played for Pittsburgh, and a 6-0 record (4.06 ERA). I had 16 saves in 21 chances. So I finished the year with a 10-4 record, as well as 33 saves for the two teams I played for. And finally I'm with a team I think I can make a difference for. I thought Tampa was my home, but clearly they're going in a different direction. I hope to be here when Pitt makes their playoff run next year.

[Chipper_Jones]

2006 Playoffs (Results)

AL Division Series
Baltimore (97-65) beat Anaheim (94-68) in four games.
Vancouver (106-56) beat Cleveland (91-71) in five games.

NL Division Series
Chicago (93-69) beat San Francisco (97-65) in four games.
Los Angeles (106-56) swept Florida (91-71) in three games.

AL Championship Series
Vancouver beat St. Louis in seven games.

NL Championship Series
Los Angeles beat Chicago in six games.

World Series
11/9 (Game 1): Los Angeles (6) @ Vancouver (9)
11/10 (Game 2): Los Angeles (3) @ Vancouver (2)
11/12 (Game 3): Vancouver (9) @ Los Angeles (3)
11/13 (Game 4): Vancouver (2) @ Los Angeles (5)
11/14 (Game 5): Vancouver (5) @ Los Angeles (0)
11/16 (Game 6): Los Angeles (1) @ Vancouver (11)

Vancouver avenged last year's loss to Los Angeles in the series, by ousting them 4-2 this year!

[Chipper_Jones]

Minor League Draft (1/17/07)
Pittsburgh made the following draft picks:

1. Wes Bernstein: 71 (Peak: 86) - 19 year old SP
2. James Olesen: 71 (Peak: 78) - 26 year old RP
3. Kagemusha Kosaka: 62 (Peak: 78) - 26 year old CF
4. Scott Dehovitz: 57 (Peak: 78) - 19 year old 1B
5. Bob Kernan: 57 (Peak: 74) - 22 year old LF
6. Jose Reddigan: 50 (Peak: 70) - 19 year old 2B

The General Manager also made a couple of trades that brought us two high first round picks …

- Felix Aznar: 77 (Peak: 95) - 23 year old rookie LF (#2 by Montreal)
- Robin Brundage: 77 (Peak: 91) - 23 year old rookie RP (#7 by Philadelphia)

Brundage will debut as a rookie this year, playing as my setup man … hopefully we can put something together early ;)

Spring Training
I played in 11 games during Spring Training, picking up an 0-1 record, a 4.56 ERA and two saves in two chances. Brundage also looks good, in his 11 games he had an 0-1 record, a 4.95 ERA and three saves in five chances.

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2007
We had a lousy first month … not looking anything like the team that battled for playoff position last year. We're 11-13 as of the end of April, which already puts us six games back of Chicago. We're only hitting .273, but our team's pitching has been solid (4.50 ERA). Out of 24 games, I only made six appearances, but I'm 0-0, I have a perfect 0.00 ERA, and three saves in three chances!

May 2007
This month was already going badly when, on the 17th, we started a four game road stand against the Cubs. They swept us 4-0, and that made a good snapshot of how we've played so far this year. The Braves beat us 3-1, The Brewers swept us in four, and though we did get a win to end the month, beating Minnesota 9-7, our 8-18 May record speaks for itself. Our hitting has stagnated (.251), and our pitching has just become atrocious (our team ERA crashed to 5.79) … I've played now in 19 games this year, putting together a 1-0 record, a 5.03 ERA, and seven saves in eight chances. No one around here is happy though … and shakeups are expected.

Sure enough, the GM made a move to get some stronger hitters.

- He acquired Rocco Baldelli from Tampa by sending four players … including rookie reliever Brundage, and I'm told, $6 million.
- He got Edgar Renteria from Colorado for a pair of players and another chunk of cash …
- Finally, he found a good RF in Ryan Langerhans (Seattle), who he managed to snag for Trent Myers and Tito Calatrava.

Hopefully that will spike some improvement. Meanwhile, I spoke with the GM, because I'd heard there were rumors that Tampa wanted me back. After half an hour of discussion, he finally let me know that there were absolutely no plans to trade me away before my contract expires. Good to know ;)

June 2007
We ended the month with a couple good games against Philadelphia on the road, but as a whole the month was a waste. We went 9-15, slipped to 28-46 on the year, and we're 20.5 games out of first. Which gives us damned near no chance to fight back. We're dead last in the six team NL Central, with a .258 batting average and 5.73 team ERA. I've, meanwhile, now played in 34 games this year, garnering a 2-0 record, a 5.03 ERA and 10 saves in 13 chances.

July 9, 2007 - My GM lied … seems he's been plotting to find a way to get a blockbuster trade by sending me as part of a package. Instead, I found out later, I got traded for $9 million in cash. Makes you feel good, don't it? So now I'm headed for New York City, and the Yankees. Where I'll take over as closer for rookie Jose Estrada (1-2, 3.41 ERA, 23 saves) who will now be the Setup man. I'll have to prove myself here quickly, as the Yanks are already 53-29 and leading the AL East. If they see I'm not doing well, they've got Estrada, and they won't have qualms about shipping me to their AAA affiliate. Man, I'm starting to get dizzy from all this moving … anyway, heading into New York, I've got a 3-0 record, a 4.50 ERA and 10 saves from my few months in Pittsburgh. We'll see if I show an improvement ;)

[boomboom]

one of the best dynasties i have ever read...keep it up chip!

[Chipper_Jones]

Will do :) Had to deal with that shitty little thing called class :D

[Chipper_Jones]

July 2007
The Yanks went 14-9 this month, which is good but not stunning, considering most of our games were at home. But we're still atop the AL East with a 64-36 record, .278 hitting as a team, and a team ERA of 4.21, with two and a half months to go in the season. I have played in ten games since arriving in New York, and am 0-0, with that lovely 0.00 ERA and four saves! My OBA in 8.1 innings is .179.

August 2007
This was one of the worst months New York's seen in a long while. We went 11-13, struggling against teams like Tampa in a way that is making all us players nervous. We're now 75-49, just one game ahead of Tampa Bay (74-50). And if we can't turn this slump around, we'll have to start fighting for the wild card. Fans in New York, just finally getting used to winning again (after last year's "worst" 89-73 record) won't go for another second place finish in the AL East. So far we're hitting .280 (1st) but our ERA has slipped to 4.30 (3rd). As for me, I'm now 0-2, having appeared 18 times for the Yankees … I've got seven saves but blew two opportunities this time around, and my OBA is a dismal .293 compared to my career average of .249. I've got to turn this around … in this situation, a closer plays a serious role in every game. And if I'm the player who slips, and underperforms, I'm the one who's gonna be tradeable.

September 2007
September got even worse. We started out strong, but then hit the skids when we faced the Vancouver Canadians eight times (only twice did we win) … but we did finish strongly with a four win stretch at Kansas City, which puts us at 12-14 for the month, 87-63 overall, with twelve games to play in October. And the good thing is that Tampa also cooled down! They're now 84-65, 2.5 games back (and half a game back of the wildcard). We're still hitting .279 (atop the AL East) but our pitching continues to struggle, with a team ERA of 4.54 … I've now pitched 33 games for New York, and have a 1-4 record, a 3.76 ERA 12 saves and four blown saves. That puts me at 22 saves for the season, which is a disappointing dropoff from last year …

October 2007
We're lucky that our 6-6 October record was good enough to put us ahead of Tampa down the stretch. We finished the regular season with an average 93-69 record, with a team batting average of .277, and an ERA of 4.53. And I'm in uncharted terretory! Nearing the end of my fourth major league season, I'm in the playoffs for the first time … and hoping I can handle myself well. I finished the regular season with a 1-4 record for New York, a 3.16 ERA and 16 saves in 20 opportunities. Overall, I had a 4-4 record, a 3.89 ERA, and 26 saves with 33 opportunities.

[Chipper_Jones]

2007 Playoffs

AL Divisional Series
In the first round, we drew the Cleveland Indians as our opponent. At 95-67, they're considered a slight favorite on us since we had our end-of-season slump. Elsewhere, the Canadians (115-47) will likely slaughter the White Sox (91-71) in the other AL Divisional Series. Los Angeles (113-49) will battle the Mets (89-73), and the Cubs (101-61) will take on Florida (94-68) in the NL Divisional Series …

October 21, 2007 - @ Cleveland (Game 1)
We won this one nicely, 15-8, thanks to the seven runs we scored in the third and fourth innings. We led 7-0 when the Indians started to try and come back in the sixth inning … but we managed to keep putting up offense, and won by the same margin. Javier Vasquez won the game for us with seven strong innings, in which he threw 114 pitches and gave up only four hits and two earned runs. But considering the margin of victory, it was a surprisingly long game, clocking in at nearly four and a half hours. 42,865 fans packed in, and the Cleveland fans weren't too pleased.

October 22, 2007 - @ Cleveland (Game 2) New York Leads 1-0
I made my playoff debut, and it wasn't a good situation. When I came in, in the bottom of the ninth, with the score in our favor 6-5, things were looking good, and it was supposed to be an easy save … I got a strikeout pitching to Victor Martinez, but then I gave up a double to John McDonald, which brought Scott Podsednik up to hit. He homered … which brought in the tying and the winning run. I went down as the losing pitcher, and on the flight home, I got the silent treatment … including angry glares from the GM and coaching staff. I'm just praying I get a chance to redeem myself, otherwise my days as a Yankee could be numbered. Nothing like a 54.00 ERA in your first playoff game to make you want to vomit.

[Chipper_Jones]

October 24, 2007 - @ New York (Game 3) Series Tied 1-1
Games three and four will be here at home, followed by game five (if necessary) back in Cleveland. We're hoping, however, to win the next two, and end this in four. But things didn't go our way … Cleveland scored three big runs in inning numero dos, and though we got six hits, we never managed to score. They didn't score again, but three was enough apparently. Cleveland went back to their hotels after the 3-0 win with a 2-1 series lead. We've got some planning to do if we aim to win this next game and force a fifth … I played an inning today, but it didn't matter too much. We were down 3-0 win I went in, and we were down 3-0 when I left. Scott Podsednik filed out to left, Jody Gerut filed out to center, and Jhonny Peralta struck out. So my playoff ERA has improved to 13.50 … and if we can get to game five, I may get to pitch again in this series!

October 25, 2007 - @ New York (Game 4) Cleveland Leads 2-1
Game four was an exercise in futility. By the end of the fourth inning, Cleveland led 6-3. We added two runs in the seventh inning, but couldn't muster a tying run. We lost this one 6-5, and with that goes our hopes of a trip to the World Series.

Elsewhere …

Vancouver beat the White Sox in four.
Los Angeles beat New York in four.
Chicago beat the Marlins in five.

AL Championship Series
Vancouver swept Cleveland in four.
Los Angeles swept Chicago in four.

So for the THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR, the World Series will feature the Vancouver / Los Angeles rivalry. Each team has a world title, who will win this year? Only a few days and we'll know …

World Series
11/9 (Game 1): Vancouver (4) @ Los Angeles (6)
11/10 (Game 2): Vancouver (4) @ Los Angeles (2)
11/12 (Game 3): Los Angeles (1) @ Vancouver (5)
11/13 (Game 4): Los Angeles (4) @ Vancouver (10)
11/14 (Game 5): Los Angeles (3) @ Vancouver (7)

Vancouver wins four straight to take the series in five! It's their second consecutive title win, in their third consecutive title game appearance.

[Chipper_Jones]

Minor League Draft (1/17/08)
The Yankees made the following draft picks:

1. D i c k* Mears: 63 (Peak: 88) - 20 year old RF
2. Karl Ingram: 64 (Peak: 71) - 21 year old C
3. Oscar Villasenor: 60 (Peak: 78) - 23 year old CF
4. Cam Thornburgh: 62 (Peak: 73) - 23 year old LF
5. Trent Waterville: 58 (Peak: 74) - 25 year old 1B
6. Martin Komanovsky: 55 (Peak: 68) - 20 year old RP
____________________________________________________
*Hey Takaplan! Can the name that is short for Richard please be unswearfiltered? It's f---ing annoying! If the name's in the game, we should be able to type it in a dynasty ...

I'm told I still have the closer spot sewn up, as Estrada will remain in the Setup spot. I seriously don't expect New York to trade me. They know I've got potential, and I'm not a drain on their finances. But I want to come out quickly in 2008 and show everyone that I'm not destined to repeat performances like my first playoff game. Maybe this team can make another run. Maybe we can take down the likes of Vancouver and Los Angeles, and see some NEW teams in the World Series for a change …

Spring Training
In eight Spring Training games, I went 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA and two saves. Nothing too huge, but I'm hoping to carry over a little confidence into the season. My contract expires in two years, and next year I'll have the opportunity to have the contract renegotiated … what will happen to me when that happens is anyone's guess.

[BBMogulLover21]

Hey Chipper I been reading this thread and I was curious I know this is supossed to be you..... did you create him? And if you did what did you put on the player Editor..... How did Mr Sanders start in the first place?

[Chipper_Jones]

Basically I just edited the closer who was given to Vancouver ... I changed my name, and didn't tweak the prospects, as I didn't know for sure how that would work ... it's clear that BBMO is vastly different from BM2K5 ... as you'll see in 2008, I describe a young closer for Colorado, who at 23 is exhibiting my skills (I'm 26 in the game at this point) ... he's already at my level, and could soon be better than me, although (as seems to be normal with players who end up on expansion teams) I'm still destined to be one of the better closers in the league ...

I haven't seen my skill levels change too much yet from where I started ... so either that means I'm not yet close to peaking, or it means I may be prone to drop quickly if I suffer an injury or something. Who knows ;)

Anyway, the guy I happened to put my name on was apparently a solid prospect with 20% endurance and exceptional movement and power. I have to wonder, had I chosen to make myself a starting pitcher, would I have broken 100 wins yet? :D

Note: If I choose to do this again with a new player, I may pick a player with weaker stats, and see if he can rise to major league level. In this case, it was a guy who was decent on an expansion team, but it begged the question of whether I could survive on a team like NYA ... as you'll see in 2008, it looks like I can ;)

This is also fun, because in real life there's no way in **** I could be an athlete ... not with vision as bad as mine ;)

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2008
We had some rough spots in the first month (I swear to God, those bloody Canadians are unstoppable!) but in the end we held a 16-11 record, good for first in the AL East (up by 1.5 games on Baltimore) and it's mostly thanks to pitching (our team ERA is down to 3.82, the best in the AL East) … our hitters have been cold mostly, with a team Batting Average of .256 (DEAD LAST in the AL East). I played in sixteen of our twenty-seven games this month, earned a 1-0 record and a 2.16 ERA, and got TEN SAVES in ten chances! I'm second in the majors, only to Gary Grieco of Colorado, who has 11 saves in this his third season (he's only 23) … he was Colorado's 1st round pick in the 2006 season, and apparently he's been worth his salt. But can the two of us keep up this pace? We'd each be on pace for 60+ saves, and I don't see that happening …

May 2008
We knew this month was gonna be tough … of our 26 games, 21 of them would be played on the road. But we didn't expect to handle things so well! We went 17-9 in May, improving to 33-20 … which gives us a two game lead on Baltimore and a 9.5 game lead on Tampa Bay! We're now hitting .265, with a solid 3.70 team ERA! I played in twelve of those 26 games, and still hold my 1-0 record, with a 3.10 ERA and 17 saves! I'm now in a tie for first in the league with Grieco, who has played in 31 games and still has a superior 1.78 ERA with a 2-0 record to go with his 17 saves.

June 2008
We started off badly this month … four straight losses AT HOME against Texas gave us a mid-month record of 4-7 … but we recovered from the little stutter-step, swept Boston here in New York, and started rolling. We finished June with a 15-11 record, so we'll enter July with a 48-31 record and a slim one game lead on Baltimore (45-30). We’re hitting .269, and our team ERA is still a low 3.73. The only AL team with a better pitching team is Vancouver (61-20) … they've got a 3.33 ERA, and are looking fairly invincible this year. I didn't play much in June, however, just made eight appearances. I remain 1-0, my ERA has improved to 2.68, and I have 21 saves (which means I earned a save in half my appearances this month, not bad at all). Grieco has 22 saves, and I'm now tied for second with veteran closer Byung-Hyun Kim of Cincinnati, who has 21 saves so far in his tenth season (in 39 appearances).

[Chipper_Jones]

July 2008
We went into the allstar weekend with a 4-0 record on the month of July! We went on to finish with a 13-6 record in this "short month", leaving us two and a half months to continue to assert our AL East dominance … we're now 61-37, three games up on Baltimore and 14 up on Tampa. I played in eight of those nineteen games this month, and I now have a 2-0 record, a 2.62 ERA, and 26 saves! I'm back in second place in that little race, though Grieco (who many are saying may be the better than me, not just younger than me) who has 29 saves, a 3-0 record and a 1.81 ERA in 53 appearances. My GM laughed that off … "Grieco's hitting his peak now, and he's only 23 … a couple years from now no one's gonna talk about him outside of Colorado." I guess we'll have to wait and see.

August 2008
A tough month as far as road games were concerned (eighteen of our twenty-two games were on the road) we still managed to post a 13-9 record this month, which puts us at 74-46, though Baltimore (72-51) is just waiting for us to slip up. They're only 3.5 games back, so we've got to keep our heads on straight in these next six weeks. I've now played in 56 games, with a 2-1 record (3.69 ERA) and 32 saves in 35 chances! And Grieco (38 saves) has run away with the "race" though I'm happy to be known as one of the best young closers.

September 2008
We did finish the month with a 16-12 record, but we also finished by losing four straight to Texas. Which does throw a wrench in our momentum. We're currently 90-58, 4.5 games up on Baltimore, and with just 14 games left heading into October, we're hoping our lead will stick. We're currently batting .268 with our consistent 3.73 ERA heading into the final two weeks … I'm now 3-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 72 games. I've also got 38 saves (a career high) in 44 chances, with a .227 OBA and 61 strikeouts, which is already a career high!

Oh, and in the homerun race, we'll all be keeping an eye on Vancouver's Adam Dunn … he's taken full advantage of the team's great hitter's park, and the 28-year-old has 64 homers! Could he break the homerun record set by Bonds? This guy is an amazing hitter … he's making $13.3 million through 2013 thanks to his career average of .260 and homerun total of 312 in eight seasons. Cincinnati released him in 2006, and Vancouver signed him as an FA … and I don't seem them letting him go.

October 2008
We finished the season with an 8-6 run in October, which gives us a 98-64 record heading into the playoffs! Baltimore won the AL Wildcard, so we may end up meeting them again … we finished the regular season with a team batting average of .268, and a 3.74 team ERA. I finished the year with a 3-3 record, 3.49 ERA and 42 saves in 79 appearances with the Yankees! I also was named the AL Saves Leader … and was only one save behind Grieco in the end (and he had ten more appearances than I did).

[Chipper_Jones]

2008 Playoffs

AL Divisional Series
Talk about crazy … we drew a rematch in the AL Divisional Series against Cleveland, the team which eliminated us in four games last year. This year, however, we're the favorite (they're 91-71) … in the other AL Divisional series, the Vancouver Canadians (120-42) will likely manhandle Baltimore (94-68) … they're hoping to win their third straight World Series, because they're expected to have their team decimated in the offseason due to their debt load. In the NL Series, Florida (94-68) will fight Los Angeles (100-62) while Colorado (104-58) will face Chicago (89-74).

October 24, 2008 - @ New York (Game 1)
Won't my playoff nightmare ever end? When I got called in to pitch in the top of the eleventh, at first I handled things well. I got three easy outs, and the score remained tied 8-8. We came up to bat, and failed to score, which brought me back out in the twelfth. Orlando Hudson grounded out to second, but the second baseman made a throwing error that put Omar Infante on base with what should have been a routine out. I then pitched to Scott Podsednik who singled to first and scored a bloody run. It's unearned, but still … I mean, ****! Mike Sweeney filed out to right, and Scott Podsednik was caught stealing, which ended the ending, but the damage was done. We failed to score when we came up to bat, and there you go, we lose 9-8. I was counted with the loss, but I have an 0.00 ERA … hopefully we'll win tomorrow, because we need these wins at home when we can get them.

October 25, 2008 - @ New York (Game 2) Cleveland Leads 1-0
This is just awful! In front of 57,000 Yankee fans, we lost 8-3 to a Cleveland team that our team just doesn't seem to know how to beat! They led 3-0 at the end of the first inning, and 6-0 by the end of the fifth. By then it was clearly over. So now we have a day to "rest" and then we'll have to hope to beat them on THEIR field … in fact, if we want to win this series now, we'll have to win three straight.

October 27, 2008 - @ Cleveland (Game 3) Cleveland Leads 2-0
Tonight, we played well enough that we didn't need a closer! Thomas Arria pitched seven innings, and when Estrada came in to start the eighth inning, we led 3-1, and the team scored two more points being led by Estrada as setup … so we went on to win 5-1, giving us a slight window. I've had two days off, I can almost guarantee I'll play tomorrow. And I'm just hoping I can contribute enough to help us even the series …

October 28, 2008 - @ Cleveland (Game 4) Cleveland Leads 2-1
This game remained scoreless through four and a half innings, when Cleveland took a 1-0 lead. Midway through the sixth, we pulled Brazelton, our starter, and Heredia took over … and gave up three more runs, while we scored three of our own in the seventh. So heading into the eighth inning, we trailed 4-3. At the end of the eighth, we trailed 5-4. But then suddenly our team's offense got going! Michael Restovich homered over the left field fence, tying the score at 5-5! Gary Matthews then came up … and HOMERED OVER THE CENTER FIELD FENCE! A-Rod then struck out, Richard Hidalgo grounded out to second, and Tony Clark struck out! Leaving us in the lead, 6-5 … and me with a chance to save the game! First batter, Scott Podsednik, singled to left, and made it to first. But I caught him stealing, and got an out! Mike Sweeney then grounded out to the pitcher (whoop!) and Dmitri Young lined out to center field! With that, we won the game, and after two appearances, I'm STILL holding an 0.00 ERA, and I've added a save! And WE get the chance to play game five back in New York in two days!

October 30, 2008 - @ New York (Game 5) Series Tied 2-2
Can you say domination? Tied 3-3 during the first half of the sixth inning, we then scored six points, making the score 9-3 in our favor! There the score would stay … Vasquez gave up the three runs, and was pulled after five innings. Heredia ended up getting the win, and our long reliever, Wilfredo Ledezma played the last two innings, and performed nicely, bringing his playoff ERA down to 2.25! And we take the series 3-2, and will move on to the ALCS!

[Chipper_Jones]

AL Championship Series
In the other AL Division Series, Vancouver's Canadians bested the Orioles, 3-1. Meaning we get to take on the team with the best record in the major leagues for a shot at the World Series! In the NL, Los Angeles beat Florida's Marlins in five games, and the Colorado Rockes swept the Cubs 3-0.

November 1, 2008 - @ Vancouver (Game 1)
Vancouver led 4-0 by the end of the third inning, and we scored our only two runs in the eighth inning. So we lost the game 4-2 and will hope to get a win tomorrow night to even the score. That will be when I have to play …

November 2, 2008 - @ Vancouver (Game 2) Vancouver Leads 1-0
They didn't bother to bring me in tonight, instead they left that job up to Heredia and Estrada, as we went on to win another close one 4-3. Arria gave up all four earned runs, and left the two mop-up guys to clean up his mess. We fall behind 2-0 with this loss, and will need to win all three of our games at home, and one on the road, if we want to win this series. And Vancouver doesn't look to be ready to make that easy …

November 4, 2008 - @ New York (Game 3) Vancouver Leads 2-0
We may be out of this for good … we fell to 0-3 on the series, as Vancouver slaughtered us 9-1 on our own field! I gave up two earned runs late in the game, but the game was already lost. Since I only got one out before I was pulled, my ERA crashed to 6.95. And this may be my last playoff chance, unless we get a shocking win tomorrow night …

November 5, 2008 - @ New York (Game 4) Vancouver Leads 3-0
The Canadians scored their first of eight runs in the first inning. We mustered three, two of which came desperately in the eighth inning. Vancouver completed the sweep 4-0, and we go home crushed that we won't get a chance in the Series.

[Chipper_Jones]

In the West, the Colorado Rockies shocked Los Angeles by stuffing the Dodgers in six games! So while Vancouver will play in their fourth straight World Series, Colorado will be playing in their first. And they'll be depending on Gary Grieco, who has so far played in five playoff games and earned four playoff saves.

World Series
11/12 (Game 1): Colorado (1) @ Vancouver (0) - Grieco got the save.
11/13 (Game 2): Colorado (3) @ Vancouver (5)
11/15 (Game 3): Vancouver (12) @ Colorado (4)
11/16 (Game 4): Vancouver (8) @ Colorado (4)
11/17 (Game 5): Vancouver (14) @ Colorado (2)

Vancouver won this one in five, and took their third consecutive world title. I'm, frankly, stunned. I've never heard of anything like an expansion team winning three straight titles. Question is, can they survive budget problems, and keep their team intact?

November 18, 2007 - I guess I'll get to find out firsthand! In an unprecedented move, New York traded me as soon as the world series was over, shipping me to Vancouver in exchange for Adam Dunn, the Homerun King! So I head back to the team that I played for in 37 games during their debut season in 2004. Now, five years later, I'm back in Canada!

Minor League Draft (1/17/09)
Vancouver made the following draft picks:

1. David Sickafoose: 72 (Peak: 83) - 25 year old 1B
2. Alex Marselille: 69 (Peak: 78) - 23 year old RP
3. Bart McDonnell: 60 (Peak: 80) - 19 year old LF
4. Frederick Lyman: 61 (Peak: 74) - 21 year old 3B
5. Ron Ahloe: 62 (Peak: 69) - 25 year old RF
6. Wesley Bourne: 53 (Peak: 64) - 23 year old SS

I'm in contract this year … and after my season last year, and the fact that Vancouver apparently wanted me so bad as to haul me out of New York unexpectedly, I wanted to see a long term contract. Still, I didn't expect to hear from the owner and GM as soon as I did … but at the start of Spring Training (March 1) they officially handed me an offer through my agent good for a $47,200,000 extension spread over this and the next seven years! And knowing that I'd like to be able to stick with a team, I was ready to sign on the dotted line. Call me a Canadian proud! The deal will keep me here through 2016!

The team, meanwhile, is out of debt at this point, so we didn't have to lose any players. The crucial year will be next offseason, when many of our $300,000 super players will be wanting megamillion contracts … could Vancouver run for another world title before that gutting happens?

Spring Training
I only played in three games this year during Spring Training. I put together a 1-0 record, a 2.70 ERA (in 6.2 innings!) and one save, with my .130 OBA being a big key to my success! I'm hoping for a banner season, so I can help Vancouver stay atop the AL West.

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2009
We started out the month with a nice three game home sweep against Tampa Bay. We then swept the Twins and went two for three against Tampa on the road! So as of April 10, our first off-day, we were 8-1, already 2.5 games up on Texas (4-2). We had a comedown of sorts, with some tough losses on the road to Detroit and the White Sox (as well as one memorable loss at home to Colorado, in which me and Grieco faced off … in a non-save opportunity) … but at the end of the month we were 18-8, and still had a two game lead on second-place Seattle (16-10). We'd hit .273 (3rd) but our 3.02 team ERA was by far the best in the entire American League, so that's how it goes. I pitched in ten games for Vancouver this month, earning a 2.08 ERA and five saves! But I'm not in the top ten this time … Grieco came in tenth, with six saves … but the big star as far as closers go (and usually we're not stars) is the White Sox's Billy Koch, who has been solid every year for eleven years. This month he got nine saves, and is well on track to break his career best 44 saves from back in 2002.

May 2009
As far as May was concerned, it was a matter of winning routinely, and working to eliminate whatever hadn't been working. We played solidly, and put together a 20-6 record, boosting our record to 38-14 heading into June! We now lead Seattle by 4.5 games … they're in second with a 33-18 record. Our hitting is on FIRE (.298, #1 in the AL) and our ERA is still a solid 3.66 (also #1 in the AL). So now we're in a situation where we just need to keep our wits about us and keep momentum going! I played in fifteen games this month, and now hold an 0-2 record with a 2.59 ERA and 13 saves! Techinically I'm in a massive tie for seventh among closers, though there are so many with 13 saves that I didn't make the top ten … but neither did Grieco … he's cooled off, with just seven saves, as his team's record has cooled to 31-20 (putting them at risk of losing their top spot in the NL West to either Los Angeles [29-20] or Arizona [27-25]).

June 2009
We had ten road games to start out this month … and we won our first six, sweeping Cleveland and Tampa Bay! We came out of four games in Boston with a 2-2 split, which put us at 8-2 heading into a seven game home stand. We went on to finish the month with a big 18-9 record, which puts us at 56-23 as we're beginning to break away in the AL West … we're six games up on Seattle (48-27) and 15.5 games up on Anaheim (40-38). We're hitting .298 as a team, and our team ERA is 3.88 (not so great, considering that now Seattle and Texas have better overall pitching than us) … I've now played in 38 games, putting together a 2-2 record, 1.73 ERA, and 21 SAVES! Which puts me in fourth place in the saves race, only four behind Koch, who now has 25!

We've got two games at Texas and then host Tampa for two games … before taking an entire week with no games to prep for the post-All-Star-game run … will the second half of our season be as good as the first? If so, then it's hard to imagine that Vancouver won't be in the World Series this year, gunning for a fourth title …

[Chipper_Jones]

July 2009
We entered the All Star week with a 2-2 record on the month, after splitting both pre-weekend series … we then hit the road for nine straight games, in which we posted a 7-2 record! We went on to finish the month with a solid 15-7 record that puts us at 71-30 with two and a half months to go … we're still hitting strongly, with a .295 team batting average, and our pitchers held their ground, with a 3.88 ERA. And best of all, the race is close to over, if we can put Seattle back a bit more. They're down ten games (59-38) but they still lead the wildcard race by 7.5 games over Baltimore (53-47). I threw in ten more games this month, and my record remains 2-2 with a 2.00 ERA … but in those ten games, I got seven more saves, bringing my total to 28! I was named an all star, and got to sit on the bench during this month's All Star loss (the NL won 7-4) as I wasn't called up to play. But it was my first trip to the game. I'm now in second place in the saves race, chasing Koch, who has 30 … he's played in 52 games, and has blown six saves (to my one blown save).

Perhaps notable to any of you who are fans of my career, my 28th save this year gave me 175 in my sixth season. Not bad for a guy who's only 27!

August 2009
Fairly routine, all things considered, we went 17-9 this month, improving our record to 88-39, 11.5 games up on Seattle (74-48). We’re hitting .292, and our pitching ERA is 3.76, a solid improvement! I played in 11 games this month, improved to 3-2 (1.80 ERA) and I now have 34 saves in 35 chances! Billy Koch leads still with 35 saves, tied with Seattle's Jim Burstein (a 27-year-old in his fourth season with Seattle, who now has 110 career saves) … that puts me in third, in a tight race. Meanwhile, in the Homerun race (which is surprisingly tight this year) we've got three players in the top four! Jesus Edinho, a 26-year-old center-fielder in his third season, leads the race with 40 homers and a .328 batting average! Teammate Jaime Beck, our shortstop (who, in his sixth season, already has 1,126 hits and a .305 career average) is in third place, with 38 homers, and a .307 average. And our third guy in the mix is Jose Formoselle, who has 37 four-baggers to go with his .290 batting average. The 25-year-old right fielder is in his sixth season with Vancouver!

September 2009
October's expected to be cake for us, as we'll have just fourteen games, ALL at home … and after September's 16-5 record, we're (by far) the best team in the majors, with a 104-44 record! We're 19.5 games up on Seattle (who look to win the AL Wild Card, as they're 6.0 up on Anaheim) and are hitting .293 with a rapidly improving ERA of 3.61! I've now played in 66 games, and still hold my 3-2 record with a 1.74 ERA and 38 saves! I need four more to tie last year's record of 42, I'm now listed in fifth place in the saves race, though technically it's a four way tie for second, with Jim Burstein now leading the way with 41 saves in 45 chances and 67 appearances. As for the homerun race, It's gonna be a Vancouver man who wins … Edinho leads with 46, Beck is in second with 44, in a tie with Formoselle, who now also has 44 …

October 2009
We went 12-2 on October, so we'll end the regular season with a record of 116-46, not far off par from last year's 120-42 record. We led Seattle (who won the Wildcard with their 89-73 record) by 27 games, while hitting .295 (best in the majors, by .003 over Colorado) and a team ERA of 3.55, which is the best in the majors as well! I finished the year with 74 appearances, in which I posted a 3-2 record, a 1.72 ERA, and 42 saves, which tied my career record, set last year in New York! I finished third in the save race, in which all the leaders were on AL teams. David Riske finished second, with 42 saves, and Jim Burstein of Seattle (a second round draft pick by Seattle in 2005) won the race with 43 saves. Jesus Edinho won the homerun race with 51 four-baggers, while Beck finished second with 48, followed by Formoselle, who had 47.

It would also be a shame to not mention our spectacular rookie left fielder Zach Saperstan. The 24-year-old played in 26 games in the last two years for Vancouver, but never posted enough to lose his rookie status. This year he broke out … in 156 games and 547 at bats, he hit .252, with 18 doubles and 31 homers, along with 101 walks … he's in contract this year, and I've heard he wants $7.4 mil a year for seven years. With so many players in contract this year, it's going to be a tossup as to who gets resigned. We've got $19 million in cash reserves, but our budget is limited as far as payroll is concerned. I don't envy the number crunchers who will have to decide who we can keep. Forty-three players (out of 62 roster players) will have their fate decided in November.

[Chipper_Jones]

Expansion Note
The league Commissioner, Richard Nittenbourogh has finalized the addition of one more team to the league, which he says will be the final expansion allowed by the league. This will add a sixth team to the American League Central Division, to officially even the leagues at 16 apiece. There will then be thirty-two teams in the majors, which should make things interesting. But the team has authorized an expansion draft. The new team can take one player maximum from each of the thirty-one teams, until they've got twenty "veterans". They will have the rest of their roster filled by rookies.

The league has granted the expansion request of Louisville, Kentucky … the Louisville Sluggers will join the AL Central starting in April 2010. The expansion draft will take place as soon as the World Series is over.

[Chipper_Jones]

2009 Playoffs

AL Division Series
In the Divisional Series this year, we'll be taking on the Chicago White Sox, who finished the year with a record of 97-65. Meanwhile, the Yankees (99-63) will face the Mariners (89-73) in the other ALDS series. In the NL, Chicago will play Colorado (96-66), while Los Angeles (110-52) gets to take on the Mets (90-72). This is an interesting year, a rarity in which both Chicago teams and both New York teams are in the playoffs … though neither city has much chance to see an all-city World Series. Not if we here in Vancouver have anything to say about it, anyway …

October 23, 2009 - @ Vancouver (Game 1)
We drew first blood in this one, taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning. But when Chicago scored a run in the fifth, it looked like this would be a close game. But we took a 5-1 lead after the seventh inning, and followed their only other run with a run of our own in the eighth, no ninth inning was necessary. We won 6-2, and I got saved for tomorrow's game. Three homers were hit during the game, one each for Jaime Beck, Nick Davis and Alex Brunk. Davis' home run batted in all three of our seventh inning runs!

October 24, 2009 - @ Vancouver (Game 2) Vancouver Leads 1-0
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, a lead they still held until the ninth inning, when we scored a run that sent the game into extra innings. The score was still tied 1-1 when I came in at the top of the eleventh. Daryl Groves singled out to left, and then Wiki Gonzalez grounded to me, and I got the ball to second to pull the double play, which put the game in our hands heading into the bottom of the eleventh. Harry Sack (please, no jokes) reached first on a fielding error by the third baseman. Then in a second error, Jesus Edinho made it to first, thanks to a botched play by the third baseman … (oddly, the guy still isn't pulled!) … and Nick Scully reached second (pinch-running for Harry Sack). Then, in the coup-de-grace, Jose Formoselle homered over the center field fence, winning the game 4-1! So I got credited with the win, in front of a capacity crowd here in Vancouver, as we took the 2-0 series lead! I improve to 1-0 in the postseason, and my ERA is 0.00, perfect. The GM told me to rest up, he may use me in two days when we go for the sweep in Chicago …

October 26, 2009 - @ Chicago (Game 3) Vancouver Leads 2-0
The game was tied 1-1 heading into the fifth inning. Then we scored two runs, and thought we'd run with it, but they followed right back with three of their own. So at the end of the fifth, the score was 4-3 Chicago. But we got the laugh in inning seven, scoring four runs and taking a solid 7-4 lead! We made that a 9-4 lead the next inning, and though they scored two in the bottom of the eighth, we still held a 9-6 lead as I came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth. Luis Castillo filed out to center … Rafael Furcal filed out to right. The third batter, Bobby Abreu, singled through the hole, and got to first … but then Steve Prywes grounded out to short! Middle reliever Reynaldo Lorente was credited with the win, I got the save, and we swept the White Sox! In two appearances, I have a 1-0 record, a save, a 0.00 ERA and a .286 on base average in two innings!

[Chipper_Jones]

[i]AL Championship Series
Elsewhere, Seattle ousted the Yankees in five, which means we get to take on the weak Mariners (89-73), our division "rivals", for a shot at a fifth straight World Series appearance! Our fans are already readying the brooms … in the NL, Colorado upset Chicago in five, and Los Angeles swept the Mets 3-0.[/b]

October 31, 2009 - @ Vancouver (Game 1)
Seattle came out strong, and scored a duo of runs in the first, and a third in the third … but we went nuts in the fourth, scoring five runs, and then added four in the seventh, to win this one 9-3. As we were the home team, we didn't really need a late game save, so I didn't get a chance to play. We've got game two here tomorrow, and that's likely where I'll see some time.

November 1, 2009 - @ Vancouver (Game 2) Vancouver Leads 1-0
Seattle dominated tonight, and gave us our first playoff loss of the season. Our only run was in the fourth inning, and by then Seattle already led 3-1. They added a trio in the seventh to seal the lid on our coffin. We lost the game 6-1, and as there was no save situation, the GM again didn't put me in. Which adds some pressure, because now the series is tied 1-1. We're heading to Seattle for three straight. And I just know that Seattle's going to want to win all three and take the series. I suspect a game or two will come down to the final innings, and that makes my role crucial …

November 3, 2009 - @ Seattle (Game 3) Series Tied 1-1
Another game with no save opportunity. Seattle took the lead 1-0 in the first, and though we tied it 1-1 in the second, they scored thrice in the third inning, to make it a 4-1 lead for the Mariners. They added three more in the seventh, making this a 7-1 ballgame. We added FIVE RUNS in the top of the ninth, but our rally fell just short. Had we taken the lead, I surely would have been called in to ice it, but as it stood, the Mariners never had to take the field for the bottom of the ninth. We lost 7-6 and Seattle took the lead 2-1 in the series.

November 4, 2009 - @ Seattle (Game 4) Seattle Leads 2-1
Now I'm getting scared here … a game that was tied 1-1 in the sixth inning turned into a 6-1 Seattle lead in the bottom of the eighth. We came in and scored three in the top of the ninth, but again it wasn't enough. We lost 6-4, and Seattle now leads 3-1! Yet again I didn't get a chance to help my team, and we've got one more shot to stop them if we want to play again at home …

November 5, 2009 - @ Seattle (Game 5) Seattle Leads 3-1
Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the second … and made it a 2-0 lead in the third. And there it stayed, until the top of the eighth! It all got started when Juan Ciro was walked. Jaime Beck then popped out to second, but they walked Zach Saperstan, which put two runners on base who DIDN'T HIT! Nick Davis then singled through the right side, scoring a run! Next, Merlin Vizcaino doubled down the left field line, scoring a run (tying the score 2-2) and leaving potential scoring runs on second and third! Oscar Villereal came in to pitch for the Mariners, but he must have been a little crazy … he INTENTIONALLY WALKED ALEX BRUNK, loading the bases! Jerry Gold came in to pinch hit for Otis Fernsworth, and SINGLED IN THE LEFT FIELD GAP, scoring TWO runs! We're suddenly up 4-2! Good ole Harry Sack then struck out, ending the inning. We kept them from scoring in the eighth, and then we went three and out in the top of the ninth. That's when I came in … first, I struck out Will Sloan. I then gave up a hit to Joseph Limbert, who made it to first on a left field line drive. But Josh Bard grounded out to the shortstop, who managed to get the double play to second, and we found ourselves on the winning end, surviving to play again at home … Seattle still leads 3-2 though. Frankly, I'm just glad we made the plays, because I'd much rather have this, my second save in the playoffs (still an 0.00 ERA!) than to give up the runs that would have cost us the series …

November 7, 2009 - @ Vancouver (Game 6) Seattle Leads 3-2
This was another good night for Vancouver fans! We took a 2-0 lead in the seventh, and then when they scored a run in the eighth, we iced them in the bottom of the inning, scoring the run that put us up 3-1! There was no need for a save, so I never came in. Or perhaps, it's more fitting to say that Peavy never went out … he pitched all nine innings, 120 pitches, and gave up only ONE HIT and three walks. It will all come down to game seven here in Vancouver, and I'll be rested … who knows what kind of role I'll be needed for …

November 8, 2009 - @ Vancouver (Game 7) Series Tied 3-3
This game was rather anticlimactic … we led 3-0 by the end of the fourth inning, and Seattle only mustered one run at the top of the sixth. I came in to clinch it in the bottom of the ninth: John Redding grounded out to third, Jonny Gomes lined out to center, and poor Josh Bard struck out. I got my third save in the playoffs! I've pitched four innings and given up only three hits, with NO RUNS, earned or otherwise! Not that anyone expected anything different … in 74 appearances during the regular season, I only gave up 13 earned runs.

[Chipper_Jones]

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS
Expansion Draft - 11/28/09

Here's the list of 20 players who Louisville drafted from the 31 teams in the league:

1B - Scott Younger (Anaheim)
2B - Luis Castillo (Chicago White Sox)
3B - Aramis Ramirez (Boston)
SS - Andrew Shumaker (Oakland)
LF - Miguel Cabrera (Tampa Bay)
CF - Juan Pierre (Chicago Cubs)
CF - Aaron Rowand (Detroit)
RF - Magglio Ordonez (Florida)
C - Geronimo Gil (Arizona)

SP - Javier Vasquez (NY Yankees)
SP - Alan Rubi (Atlanta)
SP - Elmo Ogden (Los Angeles)
SP - Kelvin Shearer (NY Mets)
SP - Rob Schmitt (Minnesota)
RP - Jonathan Sanders (Vancouver)
RP - Gary Grieco (Colorado)
RP - Tim Redding (San Francisco)
RP - Jason Stanford (Houston)
RP - Aaron Hendel (Texas)
RP - Hiro Morino (Milwaukee)

With the rookies they've kept from the league, Louisville has a $73.5 million payroll. The city, desperate to get a baseball team, has built the team a state of the art stadium, complete with a convertible roof, excellent everything, and seating for 68,500! A real pitcher's field, look for it to be pretty damned difficult to get home runs in this locale … the dimensions are as follows:

Left Field: 425 ft.
Left Center: 460 ft.
Center Field: 490 ft.
Right Center: 475 ft.
Right Field: 450 ft.

The city paid $600 million to build the stadium, including $350 million in private donations that have been raised over the last decade as the city vied for a major league franchise.

[Chipper_Jones]

Minor League Draft (1/17/10)
Here's who Louisville drafted this year.

1. Bob Kiernan: 72 (Peak: 92) - 23 year old 1B
2. Jim Genser: 66 (Peak: 85) - 23 year old RF
3. Luis Veron: 67 (Peak: 76) - 25 year old RP
4. Bernie Matthews: 65 (Peak: 72) - 26 year old RP
5. Hector Arnold: 60 (Peak: 72) - 18 year old C
6. Rich Stanton: 62 (Peak: 67) - 23 year old LF

I was fairly shocked to be "drafted" by the fledgling Louisville Sluggers. But it's nice to go back to the midwest, and I'll be able to live just over an hour away from my hometown of Leopold, Indiana … which is nice, my entire extended family lives there. Perhaps, with Louisville being more "rosterly secure", to coin a phrase, perhaps they'll allow me the chance to settle down here. After moving five times in seven seasons, I'm ready to find somewhere to settle down. Perhaps I could become something of a Louisville Franchise player …

With that in mind, I arrived at Louisville International Airport, got my bags and set out to meet with the owner. I wanted to see if they were willing to show me some respect … if so, I'd in turn be ready to give them a deal. After waiting in the front office for about an hour (that's what I get for not phoning ahead) I got in and shook hands with George Cunningham, whose clout helped get the team to locate here in the first place. He was a little surprised to hear me talking business so soon after arriving here. But I was very persuasive. I told him that since I was on contract for seven years at $5.9 million a year, I'd be willing to save him some money, if in return he'd make sure I had job security. In the end, after a few hours on the phone hammering things out with our respective lawyers, he agreed to the following:

- I get my current contract of $41,300,000, but it will be spread out over the next TEN seasons. So $4.13 million spread over ten years, instead of $5.9 million spread over seven.
- There is a no trade clause in my contract for seven seasons, which guarantees I'll be able to make a home here in Louisville.
- I managed to talk him into a bonus of $500,000 at the end of any season in which I get 40 saves.

How's that for taking things into my own hands? Hey, though … you've got to do what you've got to do. I'm 28 years old, heading into my eighth season, and I don't want to go down in history as the closer who played for more teams than any other … part of a player's recognition factor is through the team he plays with. Now I can feel comfortable just getting down to business.

CAREER UPDATE: After seven seasons, here are my statistics in regular season play. I've played in 462 games, with one fluky start back when Vancouver sucked in 2004 … I've put together a 26-29 record, with a 3.75 ERA. I've given up only 57 homers, walked 211 batters, and struck out 332. Add to that my 189 saves in 222 opportunities, and you can see I've made a pretty good mark. I may break the 300 save barrier by the end of my tenth season, if I can stay healthy …

Spring Training
I played in seven Spring Training games this March for Louisville … and I put together a 1.45 ERA, giving up only five hits and three earned runs! I also got FIVE SAVES, which is my best spring total yet! Should bode well for the future …

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2010
We won our home opener against Milwaukee 4-2, which was a nice way to start the season. And until we lost to the Royals on the 8th, 15-7, we were undefeated. But hey, 5-1's not bad! We weren't invincible, however, and came down to earth by the end of the month, with a 16-12 overall record. Which put us 4.5 games behind the White Sox after our first month as a team. We hit .303 as a team (1st in the AL!) and had a solid 3.62 ERA (2nd in the AL to the White Sox), which is very impressive when you think about it. I played in fifteen of this month's 28 games, earning a record of 1-0 and an ERA of 0.00! I've had EIGHT SAVES, which puts me in fifth place in a close saves race early. Billy Koch of the White Sox, who had 39 saves last year, has ten to start this year. Which puts him 13 away from the 400-save threshold!

May 2010
We had some solid games in May, but not enough to post a winning record. We played thirty games with only one day off this month, and posted a 14-16 record, which brings us to 30-28 on the season. We've dropped to third in the tight AL Central race, 6.5 games behind Chicago but only three games back of Cleveland. We're still hitting like demons (.302, 1st AL) but our team ERA has crashed to 4.10. I've now thrown in thirty games, for a 2-0 record, 13 saves and a PERFECT 0.00 ERA still! I've fallen far behind, however, in the saves race … as Boston's Juan Vaquero has 21 saves, and is running away with it. I stand in 7th place. As for the homerun race, Jaime Beck (now with Colorado) has 27 homers already in just 53 games! He's hitting .341 and slugging .755! If he plays in 154 games (like he has in five seasons in the past) and keeps this pace, he's on track to hit 78 four-baggers! Which would shatter his previous record of 55 (2007). Needless to say, he's perhaps the only player in the league who actually DESERVES to be making $20.9 MILLION a year … at 28, he's a clear superstar.

June 2010
Halfway through the season (which should end at the beginning of October for a change, now that the two leagues are evenly aligned) we're still doing well for an expansion team, though the fans seem to be intelligent enough to realize that a playoff run would be spectacular. We'll be happy to be a mid-contender in the AL Central, and make our playoff run next year. We went 16-11 this month, which puts us at 46-39. Last year, this might have been good enough to place us in first in this division. But not this year … the White Sox are eight games up (54-31) and Cleveland's having a solid year themselves (47-36, 6 GB of Chicago). So we're still in third, and our hitting has cooled to a respectable .291. But our pitchers seem to be getting into a groove. Our team ERA is now 3.95, and we hope to keep improving in that regard. I've now pitched in 48 games, for a 4-1 record, 0.36 ERA (I actually gave up two earned runs this month) and 20 saves. So far, none have been blown, so I'm incredibly pleased. I'm still in seventh in that regard, as Vaquero has 29 … but I could make a forward move if I can keep this pace, since Billy Koch (in 2nd place) is holding 22 saves so far. Also, (and I forgot to mention this back when it happened) I got my 200th save back on May 13. I now have 209!

===============================================================================
SCOUTING REPORT: Jonathan Sanders

This scouting report is according to our scouts, who are solid enough to have a +/- rating of zero according to the game engine:

ENDURANCE: 28 (+8)
CONTROL: 100 (+12)
POWER: 68 (-19)
MOVEMENT: 100 (+6)
DEFENSE: 60 (EVEN)
HITTING: 58 (EVEN)
HEALTH: 96 (EVEN)

OVERALL: 100
PEAK: 100

So for those of you who are interested, the parentheses indicate improvement or digression since I last mentioned these ratings back in 2006. It would seem I've reached my peak in control and movement, up solidly from my rookie years, while my power has suffered. Most of our scouts suggest that I may be entering my peak years, and could start to decline in skills beyond age 30. Though they suggest that just a decline doesn't mean anything concrete … I could keep pitching until the end of the decade if I stay healthy. And that would put me at 38.
===============================================================================

[Chipper_Jones]

July 2010
I couldn't believe it, but in the All Star Game, since six pitchers were going to get to pitch anway, they gave me the start! and in the one inning I got to pitch, I gave up NO hits, NO walks, NOTHING in 11 pitches! I'm pleased … of course the AL went on to lose 4-3 to the NL, but that isn't of concern … I did my job, and the All Star game's just for show anyway. We had a hard time as a team this month, with eighteen of our 25 games coming on the road. I'd say we performed admirably, putting up an 11-14 record, which puts us at 57-53 heading into the last two months of the season. We're 6.5 back of second, 11.5 back of 68-41 Chicago. So far we're also 6.5 games back of the wildcard, since Cleveland (2nd in the AL Central) holds that honor at this point. I now hold, after 58 games, a 5-2 record, an 0.73 ERA, and 23 saves, along with a solid .147 on base average. I'm no longer in the race for the Saves title, as I just fell from the top ten. With two months to go, Jamie Beck has 40 homers in 104 games. So he's still likely to break his record of 55, but not likely to hit more than 60 at this pace.

August 2010
We finished the dog days of August with a 14-11 record, and improved to 71-64, 10 games back of Chicago and six games back of the Wildcard, still held by Cleveland. We're hitting .290, and our team ERA is hanging around 3.90 … I've now pitched in 70 games, for a 5-3 record and 1.26 ERA, which has yeilded 29 saves in 31 opportunities. My OBA is now .161, which brings my career average down to .228! I'm now in eighth place in the saves race, fifth in the American League.

September 2010
The month of September was our worst of the year, as we put together a weak 10-17 record. We finished the season with an 81-81 record, fourth in the AL Central. Chicago won the division crown (102-60) and Cleveland took the wildcard. Kansas City overtook us for third down the stretch (85-77). I finished the year with 82 games played, and a 6-4 record, a 1.36 ERA and 34 saves in 37 chances. My OBA was .156 … I wound up placing sixth in the AL saves race. John Rocker led both leagues with 42 saves. Jamie Beck finished with 55 homers, tying his record and winning the homerun race. He also led both leagues in runs batted in (171).

Juan Pierre, 32, was unquestionably our star this year. He led the AL in stolen bases (44) and set three major career milestones: He got his 600th steal, his 2,000th hit, and scored his 1,000th run. In his eleventh season in the majors, he's clearly still got many years during which he'll continue to be a driving offensive force. He's now played in 1,611 games, has 2,103 hits, 244 doubles, 56 triples, 604 stolen bases, and has scored 1,078 runs (batting in 456). Whoosh!

The Playoffs
Let's simplify. I think a paragraph will handle the playoffs, as we're not there … The Vancouver Canadians (98-64) beat the Cleveland Indians in their ALDS series in five games. Meanwhile, The White Sox (102-60) beat the Yankees (90-72) in four! In the NL, Chicago's Cubs (110-52) beat Los Angeles (102-60) in a three game sweep. And Atlanta (106-56) bested Colorado (106-56) in their own three game sweep! The White Sox beat the Canadians in the ALCS, 4-2 … and the Chicago Cubs swept the Braves 4-0, advancing and making this year's World Series an all-Chicago event! An event which the Cubs won in four. So the 110-52 cubbies added an 11-0 record to their tally thanks to a complete playoff sweep!

Our GM announced on November 7, 2010 that he would be releasing two of our starting pitchers, Alan Rubi (12-8) and Kelvin Shearer (13-9), who both were asking for beyond $11 million a year. I'm sure we'll have to find a couple of replacements … perhaps the GM will look in that regard for rookies in the minor league draft.

Minor League Draft (1/17/11)
Here's who Louisville wound up drafting this year:

1. Tom Vondergroeben: 76 (Peak: 88) - 25 year old SP
2. Ernie Fryling: 66 (Peak: 82) - 21 year old SP
3. Phil Litant: 63 (Peak: 80) - 21 year old RF
4. Ken Swasdikosol: 60 (Peak: 78) - 18 year old LF
5. Ward Pierce: 62 (Peak: 70) - 25 year old C
6. Hank Deck: 50 (Peak: 64) - 21 year old SS

The league is short on affordable shortstops with talent. So short in fact that Hank Deck, our sixth round pick, is better than anyone on the free agent market. He'll start, and we'll have to hope he turns into a solid offensive player after some time in the majors.

Spring Training
I just turned 29 back in January, and now, heading into my eighth season, I want to show the league that I'm not just peaking out. That I'm not abuot to head into decline. Anyway, in four Spring Training appearances, I earned an 0-1 record with a 3.86 ERA, and no saves. Which didn't impress me, or the coaches … I'll need to perform better than that in April if we want to get started nicely.

[Chipper_Jones]

Award Note: I forgot to mention this to you all, because I forgot to look at the awards screen (as closers generally aren't too lucky in that regard) … so needless to say, I was shocked to see that I had won the AL's Cy Young Award for the 2010 season!

April 2011
We ended the month of April with a solid 15-11 record, but it could have been much better. We'd started the year at 8-1, so to finish the rest of the month at 7-10 was a big disappointment. We're currently in third place in the AL Central, hitting .278 with a team ERA of 3.85. We're a game and a half behind Cleveland, and 5.5 games back of Detroit. Chicago's gotten off the block slowly, they're 14-13 and in 4th place, following their solid year last year.

As far as our sluggers are concerned, Miguel Cabrera is excelling beyond any expectations! Last year in 136 games he went .306 with 23 homers and a .545 slugging average. THIS YEAR he's off the block with a .402 average (41 of 102) with 10 doubles, two triples and 12 HOMERS! That gives him a mammoth slugging percentage of .892! He's currently second in a tight homerun race. And I, in my eighth season, have so far played in 14 games. I've got a 1-0 record, an 0.59 ERA, and eight saves in as many chances, which puts me in a tie for second behind Houston's Jose Valverde, who has ten saves so far.

May 2011
The first eighteen games we played this month were on the road. We survived that stretch with a 9-9 record, and hit a six game homestretch, which was to be followed by five more road games. Ouch. At the end of May we had gone 13-16, which knocks our record back to 28-27 heading into June. We're currently in 4th place in the AL Central, 8.5 games back of Detroit and Cleveland. We're two up on Kansas City, and Minnesota's in 6th, struggling with a 19-37 record. Our hitting has stagnated (.264) and our team ERA has slipped to 3.97. Cabrera's come back to earth, hitting .325 with 20 homers (.699 slugging) but he leads the homerun race now, and if he keeps at this pace, he could hit 60 homers this year. I'm now 1-2 with an 0.59 ERA and 17 saves after 28 appearances … and for the first time in a long while, I'm leading the saves race in the majors! I'm just sixty saves away from the 300-save mark, and have remained consistent this year … so far throwing off claims that I might be heading toward the inevitable decline in skills that the dreaded age of 30 seems to bring.

[Chipper_Jones]

June 2011
Another weak month saw us with a 12-16 record, which puts us at 40-43. We've made some big trades, but most of them have brought in some solid youth to our lineup and bullpen, and I for one didn't expect to see any miracles … these are clearly long term moves. Either way, we're now in fifth place, but are hitting .271 with a 4.34 ERA, which leaves us plenty of room for improvement. So far I've pitched in 34 games, with a 1-3 record and 1.01 ERA. I also have 21 saves, but I blew two this month, and fell one behind the pace of Shane Nance of Toronto. The 33-year-old who is currently in his seventh season has only 38 saves in his career, but 22 have come this year. He used to play setup, and in Toronto they're using him in the closer role.

July 2011
Whoosh! We got off to a 4-0 start in July, putting us in a good mood heading into the All Star Weekend. I got to sit on the All Star bench this year, making it my third straight All Star nod, but I didn't get to play. Onward and out … anyway, the four games we WON before the weekend were all on the road! Now we're embarking on a wonderous nineteen game home streak, and hope to make this month count! And we did, sort of … we blew quite a few good chances at home, but came out with a 15-8 record on the month (which means we were 4-0 on the road and 11-8 at home, which isn't too heartening). Anyway, we're back above .500, 55-51, and have 4th place in our grasp. We're only 14 games back of Cleveland in first, so we're not out heading into August. But we'll need to play well if we want to stay in the race (we're eight back of the wildcard). Our hitting's on fire, at .285, which puts us in line with our AL Central competition … but our team ERA keeps rising (we're now at 4.42 on the season). In 43 appearances, I'm now 1-4 (1.39 ERA) with 25 saves. I'm falling behind in the race for the saves lead (7th) though I'm only four behind the pace set by Baltimore's 27-year-old Rico Illan, who has 29 saves.

[Chipper_Jones]

August 2011
I've seen some great August performances from teams, but I'd have to say that as a player, this year's took the cake. We went 24-6 this month, improving to 79-57 and putting ourselves squarely in the race for a playoff berth! We may be nine back of Cleveland, but we're only two behind Kansas City, and since they hold the WC, they're the ones we're gunning for! We're hitting like Gods, up to .290 from the abysmal start we had. Our pitchers are throwing for a 4.18 ERA, and for once all the pieces seem to be falling into place. We have twenty-three games to play in September, and three in October that will decide our playoff fate. But no one can say we've dogged it this year. What a way to follow up our debut last year at 81-81! I've now thrown in 54 games, which is far fewer than in most past seasons. But I have a 2-4 record, a spectacular 1.15 ERA, and 32 saves, in 35 chances. Which gives me 255 career saves in 294 chances, not bad at all.

September / October 2011
Ouch … we started out 0-4 in September. We finished the month with a 12-11 record, and then added a 2-1 October record to the mix. Which gives us a season win/loss record of 93-69, and we finished two games back of Kansas City in the wildcard race. There will be no playoffs this year in Louisville. We'll all have to turn our hopes toward that elusive beast called "next year". We finished the year hitting .289, with a 4.12 team ERA. I finished the season with 64 relief appearances (the fewest of my career, an honor that used to be the 66 relief appearances I made in 2005 for Tampa). I had a 2-5 record this year with a 1.22 ERA (only gave up NINE EARNED RUNS all season!) and racked up 38 saves, a solid improvement over last year's 34 (especially since I threw in eighteen fewer games!) I finished in fourth place in the majors, third in the AL, in the saves race, as New York's Jose Estrada put up 40 saves in 45 chances.

[Chipper_Jones]

2011 Playoffs

AL Division Series
New York (105-57) beat Kansas City (95-57) in five.
Vancouver (102-60) beat Cleveland (104-58) in five.

NL Division Series
Philadelphia (92-70) beat Colorado (95-67) in five.
Los Angeles (107-55) beat Pittsburgh (90-72) in four.

Championship Series
AL: New York beat Vancouver in six!
NL: Los Angeles beat Philadelphia in six!

In the World Series, Los Angeles (having won the NLCS for the fourth time in eight years) took on New York (who hadn't been in the series since 2004, when they won the whole enchilada! The Dodgers went on to win the series in six, for their second world title!

[Chipper_Jones]

November 5, 2011 - I got called into the office today, and really had no idea why. I knew they couldn't trade me, without paying like h e l l for it … I also knew that my play had not deteriorated, so it couldn't be that. I never would have guessed … turns out our GM, one of those nameless fellows you kind of tend to take for granted, apparently had to retire by doctor's orders. The game was becoming too much of a stress for him. And owner George Cunningham had decided to go in a different direction. After meeting with him and working out the logistics, I have officially become the a player manager for the Louisville Sluggers! I'll continue to play, and this cements my status as a permanent part of the Louisville community! Now, not only do I have to handle my on field performance, but I also have to make sure that the team makes a profit, keeps our good players, and manages to make intelligent trades to make sure the Louisville Sluggers continue to develop as a force in the AL Central!

This changes the way I have to run this dynasty. I'll now have to look at the team from every perspective, not just mine. You'll now get a more rounded look at the Sluggers and how we run. I hope you'll all keep reading ;)

[Chipper_Jones]

THE OFFSEASON (2011-12)

Among my first jobs was to make sure we knew who we wanted to resign heading into the free agent period. So I had to check out our finances. We've got $61.5 million in cash reserves, which is great (Cunningham started the team out with a good base of cash, as he knew more than anyone how hard it can be to make a team a financial success). This year we made $71,574,192 in revenue, and spent $78,080,436 on salary. Add to that the $1 mil each that we funnelled into Farm, Scouting and Medical, and you see we spent $81,080,436, which set us up to lose about $9 million.

Now I had to check out our "in contract" players. We had four:

CF - Juan Pierre (age: 33, salary: $5.8 million)
This season, Pierre hit .284 as our starting center fielder, getting 206 hits in 725 at bats! He had 23 doubles, eight triples and a pair of homers, scoring 113 runs and batting in 45. He's one of those "career players" you really want to keep on for veteran leadership (he's played in nearly 1,800 games, has 2309 hits, 267 doubles and 642 stolen bases, and is nine away from having scored 1,200 runs!) He's asking for a four year contract worth $5.3 million per season.

1B - Scott Younger (age: 25, salary: $300,000)
Scott was our starting first baseman last year, but we replaced him for the most part this season with Bob Kiernan, who was our bench player last year. Younger played in 119 games this year, and got 130 hits in 426 at bats (.305) along with 38 doubles, scoring 53 runs and batting in 48. He's a very solid prospect, a great contact hitter, but he's a mediocre fielder. He would like a four year extention of $3.4 million per year.

1B - Burt Jeffrey (age: 35, salary: $300,000) - ROOKIE
At thirty-five, Burt's shot of making the bigs is slim, though he hits well. He played for Louisville in 2010 for 11 games, and hit 12 in 42 at bats (.286) scoring two runs and batting in 3. He's a solid AAA player, and works hard every year in Spring Training, and could be a good role player if an injury strikes. But that's about all he's got going for him. He'd like a one year, $370,000 extention, but will work for less if we give him a longer shot. Fact is, though, he'll likely never start for us. Still, he could provide veteran leadership for our AAA affiliate, which could help boost our farm development … he's a tossup.

RP - Jason Stanford (age: 34, salary: $3.6 million)
Our long reliever this year, Stanford earned a 3-0 record, a 4.20 ERA and struck out 58 batters in 47 appearances. He admits he's slightly past his prime and is willing to take a salary cut to $2.2 million if we're willing to give him three years. And he could be a decent contributor for those three years, which makes it an intriguing offer.

After much consideration, I've made my decisions. Burt Jeffrey is gone. Scott Younger will get his four year deal, worth $3.4 million a year. Juan Pierre gets his four year deal worth $5.9 million a year. But I've decided (and it was a tough decision) to cut Stanford, and go after a younger reliever with our draft chances in January.

Our payroll is now $76,780,548, which (surprisingly) is 25th in the league. In the AL, there are three seriously overpriced rosters, and two of them have their teams in debt: Boston's got a $144.8M payroll, and $12.5M in debt. Cleveland's got a $125.3M payroll, and $3.4 million in debt. And then there's New York's Yankees, the AL juggernaut. They've got a $219.7M payroll, and still have $32 MILLION in cash! The NL's even worse:

- Arizona: $118.9M payroll, $6.3M DEBT
- Colorado: $147.1M payroll, $21.1M DEBT
- Philadelphia: $114.0M payroll, lost $3.1M, $7.6M cash
- San Francisco: $101.8M payroll, lost $15.3M, $1.8M cash

Four NL teams have big payrolls and cash reserves to boot:

- Atlanta: $106.3M payroll, $6.7M cash
- Chi. Cubs: $171.3M payroll, $11.6M cash
- Los Angeles: $263.6M payroll, $29.2M cash
- New York Mets: $169.7M payroll, $34.3M cash

And that's with AVERAGE salary demands! ;)

November 14, 2011
Louisville sent Norton Jones (28, RP, $1.15M 6 yrs)
to the Chicago Cubs for Valerio de los Santos (39, RP, $620,000 1 yr)

December 2, 2011
Louisville sent Phil Litant (22, RF, $300K 5 yrs), Ulric Thomas (25, SP, $300K 3 yrs), Bernie Matthews (28, RP, $300K 4 yrs),
Jerome McDonald (25, SS, $300K 3 yrs) and Miguel Cabrera (28, LF, $9M 4 yrs)
to the New York Yankees for Adam Dunn (32, LF, $13.3M 2 yrs) and $22M cash!

Louisville signed Mario Ramos (34, SP) to a three year deal worth $2.6 million a year.
Louisville signed Jason Stankowich (26, RP Rookie) to a two year deal worth $670,000 per year.

Our payroll is now $82.6 million (25th) as we'll wait for the minor league draft.

[Chipper_Jones]

Minor League Draft (1/17/12)
The following are our "key" draft picks, those I feel could make a contribution in the next few years to Louisville's performance.

ROUND 1 (PICK 26)
CF - Andy Warrington (23) Overall: 68 (Peak: 89)
Andy's a solid contact hitter already, and shows signs of becoming a speedy player with a good eye, great range and EXCELLENT fielding. He hit .329 last year in AA, and could quickly become a major league starter, if he does well in AAA. He got an 8.4 rating from our scouts out of ten.

ROUND 2 (PICK 58)
RF - Brian Tietz (25) Overall: 68 (Peak: 78)
After three years in AA, Tietz looks ready to make a run at AAA, and perhaps the majors. He has solid power and a good eye, and has the potential to become a solid slugger (in six years in the minors, he has 40 homers). But he's still got a lot to prove, and most likely will spend his first couple years playing for our AAA affiliate and hoping to get a few chances to shine in the bigs. He got a 7.5 rating from our scouts out of ten.

ROUND 3 (PICK 90)
RP - Damon Becket (18) Overall: 61 (Peak: 77)
In 55 AA games last year, Becket earned a 6-6 record with a 4.70 ERA in 74 innings. He has the capability to play setup, and has average control and good power. We'll need to give Becket time to develop, but he should become a key contributor, perhaps three or four years down the road. Becket was rated 6.9 by our scouts, out of ten.

The remaining three picks for us were fairly unremarkable, and may or may not ever play … they could be trade bait down the road.

For those of you who are interested, in five games of the Spring Training period, I got 16.1 innings and a START! With that, a record as far as innings per game for me, I put together a 2-0 record with a 2.20 ERA, with no saves.

[Chipper_Jones]

2012 BALANCE SHEET

COSTS
- Farm: $1,000,000 (13th)
- Scouting: $1,000,000 (13th)
- Medical: $1,000,000 (11th)
- PAYROLL: $84,420,000 (25th)
- TOTAL: $87,420,468

2012 Revenue (Projected): $70,206,005
2012 Expenses (Projected): $87,420,546

CASH: $83,520,801 (1st)

[Chipper_Jones]

LOUISVILLE ROSTER
The list of players and their roles. Rating on left is current, right is projected peak. Our ratings are +/- 4%, according to the league ranking of our scouting and such.

HITTING
1. Juan Pierre (CF) 34, 9th Season (83/83)
2. Luis Castillo (2B) 36, 17th Season (76/76)
3. Adam Dunn (LF) 32, 12th Season (97/97)
4. Zach Saperstein (DH) 27, 4th Season (96/96)
5. Bob Kiernan (1B) 25, 3rd Season (89/93)
6. Magglio Ordonez (RF) 38, 16th Season (79/79)
7. Tony Allen (C) 26, 3rd Season (83/83)
8. Aramis Ramirez (3B) 33, 15th Season (76/76)
9. Hank Deck (SS) 22, 2nd Season (51/62)

Clearly we need a solid SS … Deck was .211 last year in 237 at bats, and .260 in 146 AAA at bats. He'll start though until we can find an affordable player for the position, which is more difficult than you might think. This league overvalues the SS more than any other position, which makes finding even a mediocre one at under $5 million to be a real chore.

Here's our bench lineup:

RF - Scott Younger (26, 6th Season) - 83/83
RF - Jim Genser (25, Rookie) - 77/90
CF - Aaron Rowand (34, 12th Season) - 78/78
2B - Lamond Burns (26, 2nd Season) - 67/67
C - Geronimo Gil (36, 12th Season) - 72/72

(AAA) OF - Luis Zacarias (30, Rookie) - 51/55
(AAA) RF - Brian Tietz (25, Rookie) - 69/78
(AAA) OF - Alex Phleger (23, Rookie) - 61/75
(AAA) OF - Lewis Gille (23, Rookie) - 62/67
(AAA) OF - Andy Warrington (23, Rookie) - 68/89)
(AAA) C - Hector Arnold (20, Rookie) - 64/78
(AAA) LF - Ken Swasdikosol (19, Rookie) - 61/74
(AAA) 1B - Tom Bissell (19, Rookie) - 60/74

PITCHING
1. Rob Schmidt (26, 5th Season) - 94/94
2. Zach Lipschuetz (26, 3rd Season) - 89/89
3. Cy Murray (20, 2nd Season) - 89/93
4. Javier Vasquez (35, 15th Season) - 83/83
5. Tom Vondergroeben (26, 2nd Season) - 81/88

Closer: Jonathan Sanders (30, 9th Season) - 100/100
Setup: Chin-hui Tsao (30, 9th Season) - 78/78
Short: Valerio de los Santos (39, 15th Season) - 67/67
Middle: Jason Sankowich (26, Rookie) - 68/75
Long: Mario Ramos (34, 9th Season) - 72/72
Alt: Ramon Rivera (25, Rookie) - 72/77

(AAA) SP - Tim Redding (34, 12th Season) - 71/71
(AAA) SP - Ernie Fryling (22, Rookie) - 67/78
(AAA) RP - Damon Becket (18, Rookie) - 61/77

I'll be looking throughout the season to add depth to our pitching roster, as well as attempting to move a few of our rotten AAA batters to attempt to get some more solid backups. Anyway, we'll see how things turn out … the league experts have our hitters rated 83 (4th, AL Central) and our pitchers rated 77 (2nd, AL Central). Our defense is rated 88 (5th, AL Central). But hey, those are just numbers based on old stats. In the end it will come down to new stats, as the old stats are just history. We'll see you in April!

[Chipper_Jones]

April 15, 2012
Halfway through our first month, I can tell something's got to be done. We're 4-9, WINLESS at home, and definitely not looking like the team we were last year. We're half a game up on Detroit, but that just puts us in fifth place in the AL Central, 5.5 games back of Cleveland (12-4). We're hitting miserably (.244) and our pitching is the worst I've seen, with a team ERA of 5.74. Zach Saperstan, who usually is a hitting machine, is currently hitting .189 as our DH. Hank Deck, our desperation shortstop, is desperate, hitting .188. I've got to finally admit he's just not ready for the show, and he may never be … I'm the only pitcher with a winning record (1-0) but even my ERA is suffering (7.71, as I've given up four runs in four innings). It's clear we need some hitters to beef us up, so that our pitchers don't have to carry us (they're not READY to carry us).

I tried to trade Deck, but no one wanted him for anything. I wound up releasing him, for $738,000, and I started to look for a replacement. Finally I decided to call New York, and see if they'd be willing to trade us Jerome McDonald … which could be a hard sell, since we sent him to NYY as part of that massive trade for Adam Dunn. But perhaps they'd be willing to take a cash offer, if anything. After a flurry of phone conversations, back-and-forth faxes, and some wheedling on both ends, we managed to get McDonald … we sent them rookie reliever Damon Becket, Scott Younger, and $7,000,000. Which I'll consider a good deal, since originally they wanted Zach Saperstan AND Magglio Ordonez. The deal went through at 11:30 p.m. He'll be on a flight from NYC to Louisville at 8 a.m., which should get him here in time to join us for a 2:15 p.m. first pitch in the fourth of four games here at home against the White Sox. So far we're 0-3 on the series.

In the meantime, I'll give Saperstan some time to dig himself out of this slump. But if he's still hitting this badly after our next week (six games) I'll be ready to replace him in the lineup with a new slugger.

April 26, 2012
We won our first home game on the 16th, beating Chicago's White Sox 3-1 … a game in which McDonald seemed right at home; he hit 2-for-4, and batted in two of our three fourth-inning runs! That brought our record to 5-9, but it was downhill from there. Today is our one day off, before we'll end the month with a four game homestretch against Boston (12-11). We'll need those wins to revive our miserable 8-14 record -- dead last in the AL Central. Our team batting average is up to .263, and our ERA has improved to 5.26, but we're going to need to make bigger strides than that if we want to get back in this.

Saperstan's on a roll, he's now hitting .286, which is back above his average of .272 … Adam Dunn and Aramis Ramirez each have five homers, and Jerome McDonald's made himself at home again, hitting 16-for-38 in nine games here in Louisville. His batting average is a spectacular .421 since returning, .388 for the season. He's slugging .632, with seven doubles and a triple, as well as the one four-bagger he hit while in NYC. As for pitching, Rob Schmitt is 2-2, with a 4.33 ERA, and Javier Vasquez is 1-2 with a solid 1.99 ERA … beyond that, our pitchers are struggling, and I may need to find them some temporary free agent relief. I've played in seven games, and I remain 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA (no earned runs in the last stretch!) and three saves. No one else is doing much of note, though I'm sure things will pick up when the team starts to gel …

Vancouver agreed to send us 31-year-old veteran starter Walter Bryan, who is currently 4-1 with a 3.82 ERA, for $4,000,000 cash! New York then agreed to send us 35-year-old veteran starter Freddy Garcia, who is 4-0 this year with a 1.13 ERA! They got $8,000,000 cash in exchange for him. Walter Bryan will take over as our long reliever, and Garcia will join Schmitt, Murray, Lipschuetz and Vasquez as part of our starting five, in the #4 spot.

May 16, 2012
It's been a few weeks since we last had a chat. So far in the month of May we're 7-8, which is sad, since so far our first fifteen games in May have been at HOME. We're now 17-24, 7.5 back of Kansas City (24-16) and in fifth place, ahead of Minnesota (15-25). Our hitting has hit .284, which is impressing me … but our ERA is taking a while to move back toward last year's levels … currently 4.79 as a team. McDonald's still hitting .368 since arriving here 25 games ago, he's now batted in 22 runs … our catcher Tony Allen is hitting .339, and Saperstan is .322 after that wreched start made me think seriously about replacing him. As for pitching, Vasquez is now 4-3 with a still-solid 1.97 ERA. But Freddy Garcia went out yesterday (after four starts and a 1-1 record since arriving) with a wrist stress fracture. He's out for 25 more days. I'm now 2-0 in 14 relief appearances … my ERA has returned to a more natural 2.77, and I have six saves in as many chances. I'm 33 away from reaching 300, and I don't look to be on pace for a total of 39 saves, so I doubt that will be broken before next season.

June 1, 2012
Since we last talked, we showed some real improvement! Starting with a 4-3 road win over Milwaukee on the 18th, we won TWELVE STRAIGHT, before falling to Seattle on the road 4-3 on the 30th! We got our revenge last night, beating them 5-3, which brought our May record to 20-10, and our season record up to 30-26! That puts us in fourth place in the AL Central, just 4.5 back of Kansas City (33-20)! We're hitting .288, and our ERA is 4.69 … I'll give Adam Dunn some props, he's done well to get 65 hits in 211 at bats (.308) as well as 19 doubles, two triples and a dozen homers! That gives him an impressive slugging average of .588! Rob Schmitt is now 6-3, with a 3.82 ERA in 68.1 innings … Vasquez is 6-3 with a 2.37 ERA in the same number of innings exactly! Freddy G will return in nine days. Meanwhile, I went nutty this month, I have now played in 26 games with a 3-0 record, a 2.74 ERA and 15 saves in 17 chances! Yes, that's right … I got ELEVEN SAVES in SIXTEEN DAYS, which slams me into the top ten at #4 (behind Gary Grieco (CHC) who has 16 saves, and Javier Lopez (COL) and Jose Estrada (NYY) who each have 17! Suddenly reaching 300 doesn't seem so out of the question!

[Chipper_Jones]

Is anyone still reading this? I'm just interested, the BBM forums don't seem to be very active at all, so it's hard to tell if I'm just posting for myself ;)

[boomboom]

Originally posted by Chipper_Jones
Is anyone still reading this? I'm just interested, the BBM forums don't seem to be very active at all, so it's hard to tell if I'm just posting for myself ;)

I think you are posting for yourself:p ........j/k I really do enjoy this, one of the best yet!

Bobby

[Chipper_Jones]

By the way, I just made a trade for a guy in the minors who may well become the best slugging first baseman in the league! Bobby "Boomboom" Mutton, 21, has been with Anaheim for just a few months … he was their second round pick this year, and is hitting .257 in AAA with 15 doubles and 18 homers! Bob impresses me, and I can't wait to see him with a few more years of experience under his belt. But on our team, of course ;) Which is why I just sent Tom Bissell and $5 mil to the Angels for him.

[goyanks225]

Originally posted by Chipper_Jones
Is anyone still reading this? I'm just interested, the BBM forums don't seem to be very active at all, so it's hard to tell if I'm just posting for myself ;)

This is definately the best one on the forums.

[Chipper_Jones]

I sure try :)

[Chipper_Jones]

June 23, 2012
We've struggled this month. In our twenty-one games, we've played thirteen on the road, which may give us good reason to be fighting for each win … we're currently 38-39, 10.5 games back of Kansas City, hitting .282 and throwing for a team ERA of 4.67. Jerome McDonald leads our hitters, with a .325 average and eight homers, to go with 21 doubles. And Adam Dunn's also doing well, hitting .298 with 19 doubles and 14 homers. I've made a couple clean-up trades. First, I sent Luis Zacarias and Lamond Burns to Vancouver for Wesley Bourne, a decent backup shortstop. I also sent Geronimo Gil and $2 million to the New York Mets, in exchange for Eli Marrero, who has a much lighter contract. I just couldn't rationalize spending $4 mil on Gil when he wasn't seeing substantial PT.

July 1, 2012
We finished the month with a 12-17 record, and heading into July with a 42-43 record (5th place AL Central), 13 games behind KC who are 53-28. We're hitting .282 still, and our ERA has improved to 4.58, but we're still struggling for wins. Look for the debut of "Boomboom" Mutton in the bigs next month, as the young slugger (.263, 24 homers 20 doubles and 56 RBIs in AAA so far this year) will replace Bob Kiernan, who went out due to an ankle stress fracture on June 29. He's still got 16 days before he'll be ready to play, which means Mutton gets those games to prove he's worthy of a bench spot when Kiernan returns. Should be exciting! In other bad news, however, on June 27, Magglio Ordonez fractured his foot, and will need 53 more days as of this posting before he can again play. Jim Genser is taking over at Right Field, after being quite productive off the bench (in forty games, he's hit .280 with ten doubles and 13 walks, for a .357 OBA). As for me, after 36 appearances, I'm now 3-1, with a 3.26 ERA and 20 saves! That places me seventh in the majors.

[Hash1]

Originally posted by goyanks225
This is definately the best one on the forums.

This is a great one but i still consider lobsteve the best dynasty maker :D

[Chipper_Jones]

Yeah, Lobsteve's is far more detailed than mine ;)

July 9, 2012
Tonight will be the homerun challenge, tomorrow will be the All Star Game. At this point in the season, we're 4-4 on the month, in eight road games. Which puts us at 46-47, still 13 games back of Kansas City, who are 2.5 games up on Cleveland. Our hitting's off (.274) and our pitchers have remained relatively steady (4.57 ERA), which has helped us at least hold our ground … and considering we lost Ordonez for so long, I think it's understandable that our hitting's down. "Boomboom" Mutton got off to a lousy start in his first eight major league games … the 21 year old went up to bat 25 times and only managed to hit .080 … but he does have a damned good eye, and thanks to seven walks, he has a .324 OBA. This kid's good, we'll see if he comes out of this slump before our starter gets back from injury … if not, he's got the rest of the year in AAA to work, plus the offseason. I still see him succeeding. Oh, and by the way, I didn't make the All Star game this year … just so y'all know …

July 17, 2012
"Boomboom" went back to AAA after last night's game, hitting .175 in the majors in 40 at-bats. Bear in mind again that he walked 11 times, which makes me wonder … why are they all pitching around him? Has everyone already figured out his potential? Anyway, Bob Kiernan's back in the lineup, and we've got another 37 days without Ordonez. We'll see how things go … anyway, we're now 7-6 on the month, hopefully we can finish on a more improved note and make our first stab at a late-season run.

August 1, 2012
It didn't happen. Instead, by the end of a long slow July, we held a 11-15 record on the month and a 53-58 record on the season. That put us 18.5 games behind Kansas City, and 10.5 back of the wildcard race. For all intents and purposes, we'd need a miracle to survive this season with much respect. We're hitting .276 still as a team, and our ERA's a slight improvement at 4.54. Still, nowhere near where I'd hoped we'd be this year. Looks like no miraculous rise to fame for Louisville as happened for Vancouver. I only made three appearances in July, but I got two saves added, so along with my 2.97 ERA and 3-1 record, I can count 22 saves to my credit. Nowhere near my numbers of the past, and frankly I have worked more to turn this whole TEAM around than I have to pad my own numbers.

[Chipper_Jones]

August 16, 2012
Midway through the month, it's clear we're not going to turn this season around. Now past the trade deadline, we're 4-10 in the month of August. And there's not much I can do except say we'll make some offseason changes and do things better the next time around. We're now 57-68, 20 games back of first. We're hitting .277 but our ERA has fallen to 4.69. "Boomboom" Mutton's making waves in AAA, with 35 homers and a .607 slugging percentage. He's hoping we'll go with him as our starter next year … but Bob Kiernan, at age 25, thinks he's doing well too (.278 so far this year, and that's with 57 walks and 41 doubles). Rob Schmitt is our only starter who has reached ten wins … he's 10-7 with a 3.52 ERA … and Tom Vondergroeben is 9-7 (4.31 ERA) in 19 starts in his second season. Aside from that, however, our young pitching staff has failed to make a real good impression. I've now played 45 games as closer, with a 4-2 record, a 2.52 ERA and 24 saves. I wish I could do more, but this player manager job is tougher than it looks ;) We'll make our move … it just may be 2013 before anything happens.

October 4, 2012
The season's over. We did the best we could, and finished with a 77-85 record, which was good enough for fifth of six in the AL Central. Kansas City won the Central division (101-61) and the Chicago White Sox won the wildcard, with an 89-73 record. I finished with 57 relief appearances (again, my least ever) but posted a 6-3 record, a 2.45 ERA, and 30 saves in 34 chances. Late in the season, Bob Kiernan moved into the DH spot, and "Boomboom" Mutton took over 1B again. He finished with a .266 average in 158 at bats (not bad, considering his start) and he played in 44 games total. He also hit three homers in the majors, while being walked 32 times against 31 strikeouts. In AAA he held a .273 average, in 115 games … putting up 30 doubles 37 homers and batted in 49 runs. I like what I'm seeing and look forward to hearing what our trainers can get out of him in the months ahead.

[Chipper_Jones]

THE OFFSEASON (2012-13)
Heading into the offseason, we didn't have any outstanding contracts. Everyone's signed if I planned to keep them, which is how I like it. No need for last minute decisions that are made in haste. I knew who was gone back in July.

November 12, 2012
Louisville sends Eli Marrero (39 RF, $420,000), Walter Byron (32 SP, $1.15 million)
and Luis Castillo (37 2B, $2.6 million) plus $6 million cash
to Philadelphia for Dan Hughes (27 3B, $300,000)

Louisville sends Ramon Rivera (26 SP, $300,000), Alex Phleger (24 CF, $300,000) and Bob Kiernan (26 1B, $300,000)
to Tampa Bay for Julio Terranova (21 SP, $300,000)

I've been considering this problem for months, and now I've got to admit that our locale just cannot support the salary of an Adam Dunn. He's making $13.3 million a year, but only through this season. So I called him in and let him know that either we'd reach an agreement for a fair contract renegotiation, or I'd have to start shopping him around for trade offers. To my extreme surprise, he agreed to sign on the dotted line, if we'd give him a contract he could retire on. I agreed to a seven year contract worth $4.3 million a year, which will save us $9 million per season! It will also keep our top slugger around for the long term. I can live with that, and apparently so can he. In other renegotiation news:

- Magglio Ordonez ($7.6M per year) is about to turn forty. But he still hits well, when he can stay healthy. I've agreed to sign him to a ONE YEAR extension, which cuts his salary to $4.3 mil.
- Freddy Garcia, at 36, went 3-11 last season. But I see him as still having skills, and feel he can come back from this. He's agreed to cut his salary (currently $9 million) to $3.9 million a year for the next two seasons, since I'm willing to give him this chance.
- Javier Vasquez, 36, went 7-10 last year in long relief. But he also had a 4.22 ERA, on the better end of the spectrum as far as we were concerned. Currently earning $8.3 million a year, he's agreed to a two year extension worth $3.7 million per year.

And do you know what that's done for our budget? We're now down to $56 million in direct payroll costs, down from over $80 million. And with the right future trades and free agent signings, I think we can make a run this year, AND make a profit.

Minor League Draft (1/17/13)
The following are our "key" draft picks, those I feel could make a contribution in the next few years to Louisville's performance.

ROUND 1 (PICK 16)
CF - Josh Rames (21) Overall: 72 (Peak: 89)
Josh hit an astounding .382 last year in AA, in fifty-one games, and scored 24 runs, batting in 27! He's a great contact hitter already at 21, has amazing speed, a good eye, and excellent range. I can't wait to see what he can do on a team like ours that is still developing. He could be a star once he adjusts to major league pitching. Our scouts rate him at 8.6 out of 10 overall.

ROUND 2 (PICK 48)
SP - Vincent Kazmirzak (22) Overall: 66 (Peak: 80)
Lazmirzak went 11-9 with a 5.24 ERA in AA last year, but I don't see him starting any time soon. He's got plenty of potential and even more to prove, but I'm impressed by his excellent control. Our scouts rate him 7.5 out of 10.

We made a trade at this point for the #1 player chosen in the draft: we sent 24-year-old rook Lewis Gille to Montreal (along with $14 million) for Zach Brown, a 21-year-old starter who may well be the best pitcher to come along in years. He's currently rated 86, with potential to improve to 94 based on our scouting reports. He's gone 14-10 last year in his only AA season, with a 3.08 ERA and a .223 OBA in 181 innings! He's got superior endurance, strong control, EXCEPTIONAL movement and excellent health. This guy could well start this year, and I can't wait to see what he turns into.

ROUND 3 (PICK 80)
C - John Burnham (25) Overall: 67 (Peak: 76)
John's not great yet, but he has potential to become good. He hit .308 last year in AA, but he's been sporadic over the years … He's got a great arm and solid range, is a brilliant fielder, but lacks contact and has only moderate power. We'll see how he handles AAA before doing much about him. Our scouts rated him 7.2 out of 10.

Beyond that, our picks were unremarkable. Zach Brown will play the Setup role this year as a rook, while Rhames and Kazmirzak will play in AAA. I may put John Burnham on the bench, as we don't have any other suitable backup catchers … but as our fifth benchwarmer, I don't see him getting huge numbers of at-bats.

[Chipper_Jones]

Spring Training: This year in preseason play, I made six appearances, going 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA and no saves. Zach Brown, the top pick, went 1-0 in one appearance, with a 2.35 ERA. "Boomboom" Mutton played in 21 games, and went .373 in 83 at-bats! He hit for seven doubles, six homers and walked 12 times, which gave him a .464 OBA and a .699 slugging percentage.

BALANCE SHEET

COSTS
- Farm: $1,000,000 (15th)
- Scouting: $1,000,000 (15th)
- Medical: $1,000,000 (13th)
- PAYROLL: $57,790,422 (21st)
- TOTAL: $60,690,422

2013 Revenue (Projected): $61,071,969
2013 Expenses (Projected): $60,790,500
2013 Anticipated Profit: $281,469

CASH: $9,409,933 (13th)

[Chipper_Jones]

LOUISVILLE ROSTER
The list of players and their roles. Rating on left is current, right is projected peak. Our ratings are +/- 4%, according to the league ranking of our scouting and such.

HITTING
1. Juan Pierre (CF) 35, 10th Season (83/83)
2. Jerome McDonald (2B) 26, 5th Season (96/96)
3. Adam Dunn (LF) 33, 13th Season (97/97)
4. "Boomboom" Mutton (1B) 22, 2nd Season (93/100)
5. Zach Saperstan (DH) 28, 5th Season (97/97)
6. Jim Genser (RF) 26, 2nd Season (86/93)
7. Tony Allen (C) 27, 4th Season (83/83)
8. Dan Hughes (3B) 27, 4th Season (83/83)
9. Wesley Bourne (SS) 27, Rookie (61/63)

B1. Magglio Ordonez (RF) 39, 17th Season (74/74)
B2. Andy Warrington (CF) 24, Rookie (70/87)
B3. Aaron Rowand (CF) 35, 13th Season (78/78)
B4. Aramis Ramirez (3B) 34, 16th Season (75/75)
B5. John Burnham (C) 25, Rookie (67/76)

(AAA) Brian Tietz (RF) 26, Rookie (71/78)
(AAA) Terry Mitchell (LF) 22, Rookie (62/78)
(AAA) Josh Rames (CF) 21, Rookie (72/92)
(AAA) Vince McCloskey (SS) 21, Rookie (51/76)
(AAA) Hector Arnold (C) 21, Rookie (67/81)
(AAA) Ken Swasdikosol (LF) 20, Rookie (61/72)
(AAA) Daryl Wrisley (3B) 18, Rookie (58/73)

PITCHING
1. Rob Schmitt (27, 6th Season) - 95/95
2. Cy Murray (21, 3rd Season) - 95/95
3. Zach Lipschuetz (27, 4th Season) - 90/90
4. Tom Vondergroeben (27, 3rd Season) - 90/90
5. Julio Terranova (21, 2nd Season) - 91/93

Closer: Jonathan Sanders (31, 10th Season) - 100/100
Setup: Zach Brown (21, Rookie) - 86/94
Short: Freddy Garcia (36, 15th Season) - 80/80
Middle: Chin-hui Tsao (31, 10th Season) - 78/78
Long: Javier Vasquez (36, 16th Season) - 77/77
Alt: Mario Ramos (35, 10th Season) - 71/71

(AAA) Ernie Fryling (23, Rookie) - 71/82
(AAA) Vincent Kazmirzak (22, Rookie) - 66/82
(AAA) Tim Redding (35, 13th Season) - 67/67
(AAA) Jason Sankowich (27, Rookie) - 70/75
(AAA) Valerio de los Santos (40, 16th Season) - 62/62

[Chipper_Jones]

April 15, 2013
Last night we lost to the Brewers here at home, 8-6, bringing our record down to 6-7 on the month. So far we're four back of Detroit (10-3) but we're hitting well (.301) and our team ERA (4.23) is lower than it was all last year. Tony Allen leads the team in hitting so far, with a .315 average, four doubles and two homers. But don't forget "Boomboom" Mutton, who has broken out with a .314 average in 51 plate appearances. He's had six doubles and a homer, and has been walked four times, for an OBA of .375. I've played in two games so far, and have an 0-0 record and a 0.00 ERA as well as two saves!

April 29, 2013
Two weeks since my last post to you all … we're now 13-14, so we're holding our ground. We're only 5.5 games back of Kansas City (17-7), though our hitting has cooled significantly to .277 and our ERA has slipped to 4.31. Aramis Ramirez is hitting .378, but everyone else has slipped badly. "Boomboom", for example, is hitting .265, with ten doubles and 15 walks. It's clear already that people are pitching around him, and I don't know that he has the eye yet to find great hits instead of having to settle for walks. Adam Dunn's hitting a weak .245, and Saperstan, our DH, is hitting even worse, a pissy little .202 … I am not impressed. I've played in nine games, my ERA is a decent 3.52, and I've earned seven saves in seven chances. Which puts me two away from hitting that 300-save milestone, and just think, it's only taken me ten seasons ;)

[boomboom]

almost 300 saves....so close, yet so far away;)

[Chipper_Jones]

Yep :) I'll get to some more of this this afternoon :) I've had a real rush of work this week ... finally getting to slooooooow down a little ...

[Chipper_Jones]

May 13, 2013
Since we last spoke, our Sluggers played 12 road games. We're now 19-20, having split that set of series, 6-6. That puts us still squarely in fourth place in the AL Central, 7.5 games back of Kansas City (26-12). We're hitting .269, and our ERA is 4.50 … and neither is an improvement by any stretch. Among the disappointments: Zach Saperstan's .236 average; "Boomboom" Mutton's .243 average (he has now walked 23 times, and struck out 29). And then there's Adam Dunn, who has gone .252 so far in 139 at-bats. He hasn't hit this badly since 2004, when he went .236 for Cincinnati … Zach Lipschuetz, at 27 and in his fourth season, has had a good year in the fourth spot in our rotation (5-2, 3.94 ERA) and Freddy Garcia, having gone 3-11 for us last year, is now 3-0 in short relief, with a 4.55 ERA. I've played in 12 games, with an 0-0 record, a 2.70 ERA and 10 saves in 10 chances. But no one else seems to be clicking. It may be time for some hard choices …

Louisville sent Adam Dunn ($4.3M / 2020) and Zach Saperstan ($5.3M / 2016)
to Texas for Jeff Alexander ($300K / 2015) and Ron Himmerstein ($2.1M / 2018)

I also made a few free agent signings:

Luke Allen (RF) - $300,000 / 2 years
Luke has been rated 68 overall with a potential peak of 70. His upside is that, though he hasn't played in the majors since 2009, he's hitting .349 in AAA, and still slugging .651! I see him as a decent contact hitter, with good power, solid speed and a good eye for a 34-year old rookie. I think the guy deserves a chance.

Hank Griffith (RP) - $760,000 / 3 years
At 22, Griffith has decent control, good power, and good movement. He's 4-0 so far in his first year of AAA, and has had bad luck with getting a chance from teams. The White Sox drafted him 151st this year, then immediately dumped him. Milwaukee picked him up the same day following his unconditional release, and then apparently changed their mind, dumping him to make room in their packed roster for another pitcher. He never got a shot. At 22, I think he has a decent upside, and would like to see him be a part of our organization.

Marlon Robison (SP) - $750,000 / 3 years
Marlon has an average upside … he was picked 181st by Detroit, and was then dropped. But he's gone 4-0 with a 3.86 ERA in eight starts (56 innings) in AAA. I want to see what this guy can do with a few good years in AAA.

Louisville sent Rob Schmitt ($300K / 2013) and Tony Allen ($300K / 2014)
to Philadelphia for Carlos Giberau ($300K / 2014)

Louisville sent Jason Sankowich ($670K / 2013), Tom Vondegroeben ($300K / 2016) and Andy Warrington ($300K / 2017) + $2 million
to Kansas City for Cliff Shearer ($300K / 2014)

Louisville sent Jerome McDonald ($300K / 2014)
to Milwaukee for Nick Antipa ($300K / 2014)

Louisville sent Ernie Fryling ($300K / 2018), Hank Griffith ($760K / 2015) and Josh Rames ($300K / 2018) + $2 million
to Florida for Norton Margolin ($300K / 2016)

Louisville sent Aaron Rowland ($1.0M / 2016), Ken Swasdikosol ($300K / 2016), Valerio de los Santos ($390K / 2013) and John Burnham ($300K / 2018)
to Cincinnati for Abraham Mulrooney ($300K / 2013)

We'll see if anything comes of all this moving around … if not, we may have to keep making changes to find the right consistent lineup. By the way, our payroll is down to $48,380,490 (24th).

[Chipper_Jones]

May 27, 2013
We're keeping up our same par … no more, no less. We're currently 26-27, nine back of good old KC, and in fourth place, though Cleveland's been trying to move up from fifth to pull us down … we're hitting .270, and our ERA is 4.55, not much of a significant change in any regard. "Boomboom" continues to be an enigma. Our scouts say, as do most of the nation's sportswriters, that he's "the real deal". Yet, at 22, he's hitting a dismal .237. But Jim Genser's hitting .307, one of the few original team members to be IMPROVING so far this month. And Carlos Giberau is hitting .346, so perhaps they'll rile up our hitters to get out of their slumps … I'm still 0-0 with a 2.03 ERA after sixteen games, with a solid total of 13 saves! I earned my 300th save back on May 1, if anyone wanted to know (I forgot to mention it) …

July 9, 2013
Forgive me for ignoring you all lately, it's just that we've essentially melted down. Heading into the allstar weekend, we're now 40-50, in fifth place in the AL Central, and 22.5 games behind KC (62-27). We're still hitting 2.70, but our pitching's hit the skids, with a team ERA of 4.95. "Boomboom" has been hitting better of late, his average is up to .256. But Jim Genser's back down to earth (.253) and our shortstop, Wesley Bourne, is struggling, hitting only .247 … not good at all.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, ask, and I'll pass it on. Otherwise, I think the best way to go is to just jump right in :)

[Chipper_Jones]

Hey guys! Sorry about the eighteen week lag in this one ... I was wanting to play BBM2K5 again, and saw this game still saved (and managed to find my notes on the save hidden away on my hard drive!) so I'm back in the swing of things. But you're probably like wtf? You want me to re-read all this to catch up? Well, if you want, then that's probably the BEST way, but if you're not into re-reading everything, here's the Jonathan Sanders career re-cap:



YEAR TEAM G GS W L ERA S OBA
2013 LOU 26 0 0 0 1.26 19 .167
2012 LOU 57 0 6 3 2.45 30 .214
2011 LOU 64 0 2 5 1.22 38 .171
2010 LOU 82 0 6 4 1.36 34 .156
2009 VAN 74 0 3 2 1.72 42 .201
2008 NYY 79 0 3 3 3.49 42 .233
2007 NYY 38 0 1 4 3.16 16 .246
2007 PIT 37 0 3 0 4.50 10 .247
2006 PIT 41 0 6 0 4.06 16 .229
2006 TBD 46 0 4 4 2.87 17 .243
2005 TBD 66 0 3 6 5.20 31 .230
2004 TBD 44 1 3 6 7.07 1 .317
2004 VAN 37 0 0 4 2.20 14 .205


I (Sanders) have played in only three playoffs in my career. In 2007 for the Yanks, I was 0-1 in two appearances, with a 13.50 ERA and .333 on base average, no saves to my name. In 2008, back in the playoffs with the Yanks, I went 0-1 in THREE appearances, with one save, a 6.75 ERA and a horrid .385 OBA. The following year (2009) I was with Vancouver, as we made the playoffs. I went 1-0 in SIX appearances, earning FOUR saves, with a perfect 0.00 ERA and a .200 OBA. Following that season I was sent to the expansion Louisville Cardinals as one of their draftees … the team went 81-81 in 2010, 93-69 in 2011, and 77-85 in 2012, all without making the playoffs once. Considering it is now July 9 2013 and we're just 40-50 (22.5 GB of Kansas City, in distant FIFTH in the AL Central) it doesn't look like that's going to change soon.

Oh, and by the way, on November 5 2011, I was named the player manager for the sluggers. So while I play in the rotation (since I'm still among the top closers in the league) I am also the GM and have to handle team finances. So through 2019 I'll be at least guaranteed a salary as a player, beyond that both my playing career and GM-ing career will be up for negotiation.

I am 31 years old, playing in my tenth season … I make $4.1 million per year, as part of my deal with the sluggers (as player GM I took a pay-cut to cement my hopes to stay in Louisville for good). My ratings are as follows (+/- 3):

Endurance: 29%
Control: 94%
Power: 68%
Movement: 96%
Defense: 60%
Hitting: 58%
Health: 96%
OVERALL: 100%
Peak: 100%

[boomboom]

I think that boomboom will start hitting soon...dont you think...:)

Hey chip, we miss you in the CL league...i Hope you come and check it out...currently 29 owners...Oakland, your long time nembises when you were Seattle is available....looks like Arizona is available soon too with the owner not logging it...

I am glad you have started this back up!!!

Bobby

[Chipper_Jones]

I'm thinking about it, boomboom, checked out Oakland, and I've been keeping a watchful eye on Cascade ... but I don't want to rejoin and then have to leave in a month.

[Chipper_Jones]

August 1, 2013
We're heading into the dog days, and we're playing like we're already wounded and close to death ourselves. At 47-62, we're still well ahead of last place Minnesota (39-70) but are 24.5 games back of first place Kansas City, and some 18 games out of the wildcard race. If we want back in this season's playoff "watercooler" discussions, we need a crazy August. How we've played so far just won't cut it. Among our hitters, Abraham Mulrooney has hit .320 so far, with a .350 OBA and .425 SLG, so he's consistently contributing. Carlos Giberau (.308, 21 HR) and our DH Ron Himmerstein (.254, 20 HR) are in quite a hitting race, while first-baseman "Boomboom" Bobby Mutton is hitting .262 with 14 homers and a .372 OBA … far from what I'd hope to see from the 22-year-old, though he's got all the potential in the world, and could become the best contact hitter in the game. As for pitching, none of our starting five has a winning record … Cy Murray, our leader, is 8-10 with a 4.48 ERA, and our best starting ERA belongs to third-in-the-rotation Julio Terranova, who has a 4.17 ERA and an 8-8 record, making the 21-year-old a strong contributor who I am glad to have traded Tampa for. I, meanwhile, am 1-0 in 32 appearances (28.2 innings) with a 1.26 ERA and 21 saves (I now have 312 career saves, for those of you keeping score).

[Chipper_Jones]

September 1, 2013
We're a little closer to the race for third in the AL Central, but we're all but out of the race for anything else with our 62-74 overall record, 28.5 games back of Kansas City (91-46). Our team is hitting .277 (3rd NLC) and our team ERA is a dismal 5.05 (4th NLC). "Boomboom" Bobby Mutton is hitting .271 and has 20 HRs, while Carlos Giberau is hitting .312 with 26 HRs and Ron Himmerstein has a .268 average with 30 HRs. As for pitching, Julio Terranova is now 12-8 with a 3.69 ERA, and I'm 1-2 with 26 saves and a 2.36 ERA.

[Chipper_Jones]

October 1, 2013
Despite having NINETEEN STRAIGHT home games in mid-September, we barely managed to keep our heads above water, finishing the month with an 11-15 record, and the year with a 73-89 record. Not good at all. We finished the year in fifth place in the NL Central, hitting .279 and throwing for a 5.07 ERA. Kansas City went 106-56 and won the division, while Anaheim (95-67) got the AL Wildcard, finishing just one game back of the Texas Rangers, their division leader, at 96-66.

Ron Himmerstein would get the slugging award this year, with a .262 average and 36 homers, while Carlos Giberau finished at .311 with 26 four baggers and "Boomboom" Bobby finished at .271 with 21 homers. As for pitching, Julio Terranova, who last year went 11-15 for Tampa Bay in his rookie season, went 13-9 this year for us, with a respectable 4.18 ERA, four complete games, four shutouts and 157 strikeouts! Cy Murray was held to 11-12 (4.09 ERA) while Zach Lipschuetz was 12-14 with a 4.32 ERA. I may have to do some tough trading this season if we want a team that can compete on all cyllinders.

What I shouldn't have to tinker with would be our bullpen. I had a solid year (though I did slump somewhat with my ERA down the stretch) finishing at 1-3, with 30 saves and a 3.12 ERA. Cliff Shearer, our setup man, went 9-6 (3.00 ERA), and Nick Antipa, our short reliever, had a 10-8 record, with a 5.07 ERA. Nick alternated between short and starting rotation pitching due to injuries and such, and thus his 161 innings led to the lower ERA. Considering his 5-0 start with Milwaukee at the start of 2013, it's a little disappointing, but he's definitely worth hanging onto.

Abraham Mulrooney, a 24-year-old second baseman, played good games for us all season, his fourth in the majors. He hadn't seen time in the majors since 2011 in Cincinnati, but this year for us he hit .304 in 474 at bats. Though he only played in 123 games, I see this kid as having the potential to surprise a lot of people down the road. And he's the only player on our team with a contract in limbo … considering he is willing to sign a three year extension worth $890,000 per season, I'm willing to give him the shot.

Expect to see some popular players hitting the trading block in November though, because I'm not happy with a mediocre team. We'll be competing next year for a playoff bid, I guarantee it.

[Chipper_Jones]

In other news, the league has announced that in April 2014, just six months from now, the league will see its final expansion, one of the most surprisingly sudden expansions in pro sports history! Four teams will join the majors, due to popular demand in several growing metro areas:

- The Raleigh / Durham area will host the Carolina Catfish, as part of the expanded AL East. A small market, they only got the bid after rabid fans bought out 10,000 season tickets for the first four years (costing $4K per person), enough to finance $40 million of the costs of building a stadium outright.

- Another small city, Honolulu, will join the AL West, as the Hawaii Hellfish. They have a stable population and high per capita income, but don't expect this region to grow much … it has one of the slowest population growth ratios in the nation.

- Indianapolis will have a major league baseball team, known as the Harvesters. The team will take the place of the Colts, who left the city this year after failing to come to an agreement for a new stadium. Word is, the RCA dome is being converted into a baseball diamond that will be called Eli Lily Field. Half the funds were provided by the pharmaceutical giant, the rest was raised through private donations and a $50 million loan from the state. The Harvesters will join the NL East.

- Albuquerque has finally gotten a franchise, the Aztecs will be playing in the state of New Mexico, becoming the first pro team to play in the state! They're still a small market, however, and while they'll have intense fan support, their stadium will be quite small, and many analysts wonder if the city can maintain a team for long. Their claim to fame may be the fact that they'll steal the distinction from Denver as the best baseball homerun city; with an altitude of around 6,000 feet, this should be longball heaven. They'll be joining the NL West.

[Chipper_Jones]

2013 Playoffs

AL Division Series
New York (108-54) beat Anaheim (95-67) in four.
Texas (96-66) beat Kansas City (106-56) in four.

NL Division Series
New York (106-56) beat Colorado (101-61) in a three game sweep!
Los Angeles (110-52) beat Chicago (98-64) in four.

Championship Series
AL: New York beat Texas in six.
NL: New York beat Los Angeles easily in five, shocking the Dodgers faithful! The Mets win the pennant!

In the most unexpected World Series, a city slugfest between the Yanks and the Mets (many called it the "Dream Series") the Mets took a shocking first win 7-2, followed by a Yankee rebound as the Pinstripes won three straight (5-3, 7-5, 8-4) … but the Mets fought back in game five (3-0), and then tied the series in game six (3-0), forcing an all-out game seven, played in front of 55,000 screaming fans and a television audience of 58 MILLION (Nielsen data suggests that ninety percent of the televisions in New York City were tuned to the game) … too bad the Yankees humiliated the Mets on their own field, winning 8-2. Would have been great to see the Mets get the victory, but there's always next year.

[Chipper_Jones]

After going over the finances, I decided to give our pitching staff a pass, they're all high potential athletes, and aren't costing us much, so a year won't hurt. As for the rest of the roster, I was interested in trading Juan Pierre (CF, 35, $5.3M through 2015) and Magglio Ordonez (RF, 39, $4.3M through 2014) as they're costing a lot for benchwarmers. Same goes for Aramis Ramirez (3B, 34, $6.2M). All three put up decent bench numbers, but I can pay youth prospects to fill those spots for less, and get quality numbers.

So I thought I'd put them on the block to see what I'd get. Texas offered me $3M cash for Pierre, and it was the best offer I saw, so I accepted. No one wanted Magglio, but I was able to send Aramis Ramirez to St. Louis for Gary Matthews, a 39-year-old center fielder whose contract expires this year as well. Difference? He's only making $570,000. BIG difference. Once that deal went through, I managed to palm Ordonez, who just turned 40, on San Diego, for 38-year-old shortstop Carlos Guillen, whose contract (worth $390,000) expires this year. The difference between Guillen and Matthews is Guillen may actually be able to play some games this year. I cut Matthews right away, which cost $285,000. G'bye …

So now we're looking at a lean, mean roster. Heading into the draft, we've got just fifteen lineup players (leaving only 23 year old rookie left fielder Terry Mitchell in AAA). And as for pitching, we've ALSO got fifteen, leaving four players in AAA. I like having a lean roster at this point, unless I see people who really could benefit from the added time in AAA. At this point, we have a total payroll of $33.5 million, which, even if we keep our current rates of spending on farm, scouting and medical, we should still have a $10 million surplus anticipated.

[Chipper_Jones]

Minor League Draft (1/17/14)

ROUND 1 (PICK 12)
LF - Jose Camacho (25) Overall: 76 (Peak: 85)
Josh hit .299 last year in AA, with 14 doubles and 12 homers. Considering he only played in 78 games, it is impressive that he scored 57 runs and batted in 44. I don't see him making an immediate contribution, but Jose has the talent. Give him time.

ROUND 2 (PICK 48)
RF - Tad Hastings (23) Overall: 66 (Peak: 83)
Tad hit .311 in AA last year, with 10 doubles. He's not stunning on paper, but I've seen him play and he's got the potential to excite down the road. I can't wait to see him hit with a few years of experience!

ROUND 3 (PICK 84)
P - Luis Sapienza (21) Overall: 59 (Peak: 76)[/b]
Luis is a great reliever, the perfect short relief man, having gone 9-2 last year with a 6.78 ERA (that needs improvement), averaging about three innings per game, starting 10 of his 24 appearances (perhaps why his ERA was so low). He'll need to work on technique, but he'll play for us soon. And play well, I might add.

ROUND 4 (PICK 120)
[i]LF - Bernie Thomas (19) Overall: 60 (Peak: 78)
He's a backup to our backup to our backup, at least that's how I see him right now. But Bernie has potential, despite only hitting .204 in his first year in AA. A little more development time and he'll be a fine fielder, but it isn't time yet.

ROUND 5 (PICK 156)
C - Joe Dutko (25) Overall: 62 (Peak: 70)
He doesn't show much potential, but it can't hurt to sign one of the few catcher prospects. He could be trade bait at any rate.

ROUND 6 (PICK 192)
P - Oliver Olsen (23) Overall: 58 (Peak: 65)
He's a candidate to eventually be a spot starter, with solid endurance, average velocity and control, and stats to back him up (10-7 last year in AA, with a 5.65 ERA and 70 strikeouts in just 114 innings, not bad for a hitting league). But he's a long term prospect, and may turn out to be better as trade material down the road if he doesn't turn into a roster player.

Jose Camacho will be third on the bench, but should see plenty of playing time this season. Tad Hastings and Bernie Thomas will be in AAA. But I've got Joe Dutko last on the bench, as he's our only backup for Hector Arnold. Let's hope he never plays, he's not yet ready by any stretch. As for pitchers, both Sapienza and Olsen are in AAA … deep in AAA to be completely honest. I don't see any other free agents worth signing at this point, but I may make trade offers early in the season if the need arises.

[Chipper_Jones]

LOUISVILLE ROSTER
The list of players and their roles. Rating on left is current, right is projected peak. Our ratings are +/- 4%, according to the league ranking of our scouting and such.

HITTING
1. Jeff Alexander (CF) 25, 4th Season (86/86)
2. Dan Hughes (3B) 28, 5th Season (83/83)
3. Carlos Giberau (LF) 30, 6th Season (98/98)
4. "Boomboom" Mutton (1B) 23, 3rd Season (97/98)
5. Jim Genser (RF) 27, 3rd Season (94/94)
6. Rob Himmerstein (DH) 32, 8th Season (91/91)
7. Hector Arnold (C) 22, 2nd Season (71/76)
8. Abraham Mulrooney (2B) 25, 5th Season (80/80)
9. Wesley Bourne (SS) 28, 2nd Season (64/64)

B1. Brian Tietz (RF) 27, 2nd Season (76/77)
B2. Luke Allen (RF) 35, Rookie (68/69)
B3. Jose Camacho (LF) 25, Rookie (76/85)
B4. Carlos Guillen (SS) 38, 17th Season (56/58)
B5. Joe Dutko (C) 25, Rookie (62/70)

(AAA) Tad Hastings (RF) 23, Rookie (66/83)
(AAA) Terry Mitchell (LF) 23, Rookie (62/73)
(AAA) Vince McCloskey (SS) 22, Rookie (62/78)
(AAA) Bernie Thomas (LF) 19, Rookie (60/82)
(AAA) Daryl Wrisley (3B) 19, Rookie (60/74)

PITCHING
1. Cy Murray (22) 4th Season (96/96)
2. Julio Terranova (22) 3rd Season (94/94)
3. Zach Lipschuetz (28) 5th Season (90/90)
4. Norton Margolin (26) 4th Season (86/86)
5. Zack Brown (22) 2nd Season (90/94)

Closer: Jonathan Sanders (32) 11th Season (98/98)
Setup: Cliff Shearer (29) 6th Season (95/95)
Short: Nick Antipa (24) 5th Season (84/84)
Middle: Chin-hui Tsao (32) 11th Season (78/78)
Long: Freddy Garcia (37) 16th Season (76/76)
Alt: Javier Vasquez (37) 17th Season (71/71)

(AAA) Mario Ramos (36) 11th Season (70/70)
(AAA) Vincent Kazmirzak (23) Rookie (69/80)
(AAA) Marlon Robison (23) Rookie (60/69)
(AAA) Tim Redding (36) 14th Season (62/62)
(AAA) Luis Sapienza (21) Rookie (59/76)
(AAA) Oliver Olsen (23) Rookie (58/65)

Spring Training
Bobby "Boomboom" Mutton was King of Spring! The 23-year-old slugger hit .354 in 82 at-bats, hitting six doubles, eight homers, and walking SIXTEEN TIMES, which gives him an OBA of .465 and a slugging percentage of .720! I, meanwhile, had one of MY best spring trainings, playing in nine games, earning a 5-0 record with a 1.20 ERA, despite no saves (mostly because I pitched in a long relief role for a change, averaging 3.5 innings per game).

[Chipper_Jones]

April 2014

1 - Indians L 1-3 0-1
2 - Indians L 3-9 0-2
3 - Indians W 10-0 1-2
4 - @ White Sox L 6-8 1-3
5 - @ White Sox L 3-7 1-4
6 - @ White Sox L 7-10 1-5

TRADED Jim Genser (DH) who was slumping BADLY, and Luis Sapienza (P) who was in AAA, to Florida for Elvis Tuyet, a 26-year-old RF in his third season … Tuyet is currently hitting .556 after six games, and we need that kind of consistent strength. His overall and peak are at 85 according to our scouts, plus or minus three points. Tuyet moves into the sixth spot in the lineup.
TRADED Nick Antipa, a fifth year reliever, and Tad Hastings, a right fielder sitting in AAA, to St. Louis for Alex Varney, a right fielder who is, in his third season, averaging .480 in five games, with a triple and two homers (.800 slugging). He should add some more consistency to the lineup. Varney moves into the fifth spot in the lineup.


7 - @ Reds L 0-3 1-6
8 - Tigers L 1-4 1-7
9 - Tigers L 2-17 1-8
10 - Tigers W 5-4 2-8

TRADED Elvis Tuyet, who was benched due to sub-par play and is now just one right fielder too many on this team, to the Albuquerque Aztecs, for 25-year-old rookie starting pitcher Nate Cunicelli, who is off to a 2-0 start with an 0.64 ERA and .071 ERA! Originally they wanted "Boomboom" Mutton, but I told them hands down he's not on the table. Period. But I think Cunicelli can make a key impact on this team, He'll start out in middle relief, but could move into a starting spot if one opens up (HINT HINT, current starters!)


12 - Pirates W 6-3 3-8
13 - Brewers L 3-6 3-9
14 - Twins W 10-1 4-9
15 - Twins W 6-2 5-9
16 - Twins L 2-4 5-10
18 - Cubs L 2-3 5-11
19 - D-Rays W 6-4 6-11
20 - D-Rays W 3-2 7-11
21 - D-Rays L 5-10 7-12
22 - @ Royals W 9-6 8-12
23 - @ Royals W 10-4 9-12
24 - @ Royals W 6-1 10-12
25 - @ White Sox W 4-3 11-12
26 - @ White Sox W 11-9 12-12
27 - @ White Sox W 10-9 13-12
29 - @ Twins W 10-7 14-12
30 - @ Twins W 6-3 15-12

Whoosh! Things looked grim for us early in the month, as we started out 1-5, made some tough trades, and kept sucking, crashing to 2-8. So I made a third trade, sending away one of the potential superstars I'd just acquired, for an unknown rookie pitcher. From there our record turned around! Starting April 12, we were 13-4, including an impressively stunning EIGHT GAME win streak that remains unbroken, which was started with three WINS against Kansas City, the team that went 106-56 last year in our division.

This time it's much different. Detroit leads the AL Central with a 19-9 record, half a game up on Chicago (19-10) while KC stands at 17-11! But we're right on their tails in fourth, just 3.5 games back of first! We're hitting .323 (second in the AMERICAN LEAGUE), while our team ERA is 4.93, a much less impressive figure, but still fourth in the division. Leaders, you ask? Well, Jeff Alexander, our leadoff man, is hitting .446, aiming for OBA (.447) and not for power. Then there's "Boomboom" Bobby, who's living up to his name, with a .394 average, nine doubles and three homers, and Alex Varney (acquired from St. Louis) has hit .330 since arriving here, with seven doubles, two homers!

As for pitching, the star is hard to miss: Nate Cunicelli was 2-0 when he got here, and we moved him (riskily, perhaps?) to a middle relief position. Not risky at all, baby … or so it turns out! He's played five games, and has a 4.05 ERA, thanks to one bad game (at one point his ERA overall had slipped to 0.28!) He's only given up seven hits in seven innings, and I see big things for him in the future. Zach Lipschuetz is 3-1 with a 2.19 ERA, our only starter with a respectable record (fourth man Norton Margolin better watch his ***, though, he's 1-2 in five starts, with a 10.62 ERA! He's given up nearly TWO HITS PER INNING!) … in the bullpen, Freddy Garcia and Javier Vasquez are each 1-0, though Garcia's 1.52 ERA is vastly superior to Vasquez's 7.90 … Chin-hui Tsao is 3-2, with a 6.23 ERA, Cliff Shearer is 2-2 with a 1.40 ERA and a save, and I have (in ten appearances) put together a 1-0 record, a 2.16 ERA, and seven saves!

All things considered, I like where this team is going … we may be relying too heavily on hitting, but our pitching staff is very young and untested. I'm fully expecting them to come into their own, but I'll keep an eye on the market in case a veteran starter comes on the free agent scene!

In a little side note, here's how the expansion teams are doing:

- Carolina's Catfish are off to a 9-19 start, dead last in the AL East, but only ten games back of the leading New York Yanks (19-9). They're hitting .270 and their team ERA is 7.76.
- Hawaii's Hellfish are currently 7-22, with a .245 batting average and 6.80 ERA. They're already 14.5 games back of Anaheim (21-7) and in dead last place in the AL West.
- The Indianapolis Harvesters are currently 9-19, dead last in the NL West and 10 games back of Montreal (19-9). They're hitting .276, with a dismal team ERA of 6.87.
- Albuquerque is off to an 11-18 start, hot compared to their fellow expansion teams … they're in fifth place in the NL West, half a game ahead of last place Colorado (11-19) and 6.5 games back of leading Arizona (17-11). They're hitting .267 but their ERA is what impresses me, at 4.58, WELL BEYOND their nearest competitors as far as expansion teams go.

[Chipper_Jones]

May 2014

1 - @ Twins L 0-10 15-13
2 - @ Twins W 4-3 16-13
3 - Reds W 3-2 17-13
4 - @ Pirates L 2-9 17-14
5 - Cardinals L 4-8 17-15
6 - @ Orioles W 15-3 18-15
7 - @ Orioles W 12-2 19-15
8 - @ Orioles W 5-2 20-15
10 - @ Cardinals W 5-1 21-15
11 - @ Angels L 1-2 21-16
12 - @ Angels L 1-8 21-17
13 - @ Angels L 3-7 21-18
14 - Astros W 8-7 22-18
15 - @ Twins W 8-3 23-18
16 - @ Twins L 4-7 23-19
17 - @ Twins W 10-9 24-19
18 - Royals L 3-6 24-20
19 - Royals L 5-12 24-21
20 - Royals W 9-1 25-21
21 - Royals W 9-8 26-21
23 - @ Mariners L 1-8 26-22
24 - @ Mariners W 6-2 27-22
25 - @ Mariners L 3-5 27-23
26 - @ Astros W 11-3 28-23
27 - @ Brewers W 5-0 29-23
28 - @ Royals W 8-4 30-23
29 - @ Royals W 12-6 31-23
30 - @ Royals W 9-0 32-23
31 - @ Cubs W 1-0 33-23

I resisted the impulse to make trades like wildfire early in the month, which paid off! We finished the month with an 18-11 record, and we now hold an overall record of 33-23, which puts us atop the Central Divison by half a game over Detroit (34-25)! But it's a close race … Chicago's in third, at 31-24, and Kansas City's got a 32-25 record! Talk about parity. We're still hitting strong (.298, 2nd AL) and our ERA has improved to 4.77 (4th AL Central) though that remains our achilles heel, so to speak.

"Boomboom" Bobby came down to earth, hitting .333 though he does have 16 doubles and nine homers. Jeff Alexander's still making good contact, he's hitting .338 with seven doubles, four triples and three leadoff homers! And Alex Varney has hit .346 with 12 homers. Remember how hard it is to hit home runs in this park, our dimensions are a ***** … if he was in Colorado, he'd be hitting homers to match THEIR star Chris Volfenzon, who has 27 homers in 59 games! Considering he played in all but four of their games last year, and could do so this year, he's on track to hit 72 homers this year!

Cy Murray's picked up his pace, and is now 6-1 with a 3.95 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 70 innings! This is already the best season the young player has had, he just had to find his way out of that early-season slump. Nate Cunicelli is now 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA and a single save! Javier Vasquez, the 37-year-old veteran, is 3-0 with a 6.18 ERA and 39 strikes in 43 innings. And I am off to a 2-1 start, with a 2.25 ERA and 10 saves.

[Chipper_Jones]

Renegotiated Contracts
We're losing money this year, and I need to renew a couple contracts before I'm not ALLOWED to:

- Gave Carlos Giberau a six year extension worth $2.1 million a year that keeps him here through 2020.
- Gave Wesley Bourne a one year extension at $300,000 that will keep him here through 2015.
- I gave Luke Allen, our bench right fielder, a little security … he'd not played since 2009 in the majors, but he's a decent cheap bench man, so I gave him a one year extension worth $300,000.
- Saved some money by resigning Mario Ramos to a two year extension worth $300,000 (he was making $2.6M). Did the same with Tim Redding, who was making $2.5M but gets a one year extension worth $1.2M.
- Resigned Carlos Guillen ($390,000) to a one year extension worth $330,000. I know, he's just a bench player, but I like the guy, and even at 38 he still plays like he wants to be here. He's only been in eight games this year in the majors but has hit .321 in 28 at bats. That's pretty damned consistent for a bench warmer.

Cliff Shearer, our setup man, wants $1.3 million next year, and I can't in good conscience offer it to him, when we're risking debt, not for a bullpen player. So I put him on the block, and Indianapolis offered $15 MILLION cash for him, which would get us out of trouble! He'd also give the expansion team some relief help. So we shook hands and I signed the paper, he'll leave immediately.

We now have $16.3 million cash, $32 million in total revenue projected, and $41 million in expenses anticipated. Which means we can expect to lose another $5 to $6 million this season. But our payroll is lean and mean at $33.3 million, so I'm happy. ****, we have one of the seven lowest payrolls in the majors, and we're winning. Now we need to find ways to get fans into the seats … we're only averaging 9,003 per game, which is our biggest problem. We've got a giant stadium, but no fan base.

So I'm taking a risk … I'm going to a normal broadcast schedule, which will lose us money from that end of things. But we've lowered ticket prices to $25.75 per seat, down from $30 … and we're hoping to only lose an additional $3 million. If it brings attendance up, that could change dramatically.

[Chipper_Jones]

Attendance at our last home game, a win against the Royals, was 11,048. From now on I'll include attendance figures after home game info.

June 2014

1 - Blue Jays L 7-9 33-24 8,112
2 - Blue Jays W 5-3 34-24 7,489
3 - Blue Jays W 7-6 35-24 7,684

Lowered Ticket Prices to $10 per seat as a special test during the Catfish series.


4 - Catfish L 0-1 35-25 13,012
5 - Catfish W 7-0 36-25 12,905
6 - Catfish W 5-2 37-25 12,980

Results were mixed. We'll keep the price at this level for a while, though, and take the hit.


8 - @ Yankees L 4-5 37-26
9 - @ Yankees L 3-5 37-27
10 - @ Yankees L 0-3 37-28
11 - @ Canadians L 10-13 37-29
12 - @ Canadians W 12-5 38-29
13 - @ Canadians W 4-1 39-29
14 - Indians W 10-9 40-29 13,596
15 - Indians W 6-3 41-29 13,630
16 - Indians W 4-2 42-29 13,673
17 - Athletics W 4-1 43-29 13,530
18 - Athletics W 8-5 44-29 13,580
19 - Athletics W 7-6 45-29 13,618
20 - Tigers L 0-3 45-30 14,230
21 - Tigers L 5-6 45-31 13,982
22 - Tigers L 1-3 45-32 13,945

Following our last home game of the month, we're averaging 10,379 per game at home, which is a solid improvement. Hopefully we can keep prices at this level all year, and perhaps break 20,000 at a home game by then? If it works, we can start plotting advertising campaigns for next year, as this team's set to be as competitive (we're not losing anyone). But with the money the city of Louisville used to get us here (the stadum cost nearly $600 million to build, and the city paid $250 million of that) we need to make sure we bring them wins AND enough fans to start making this place more cost effective. And by that, I mean cost effective when we're paying better players more money. Because if players like "Boomboom" Bobby and Cy Murray come up for renewal (Cy will in 2016, Mutton will in 2017) and we can't afford to pay them fair salaries, we'll lose our best fan draws.


24 - @ Hellfish L 0-2 45-33
25 - @ Hellfish W 2-0 46-33
26 - @ Hellfish W 5-2 47-33
27 - @ Hellfish W 1-0 48-33
29 - @ Rangers W 4-3 49-33
30 - @ Rangers W 7-4 50-33

We finished the month at 50-33, 17-10 on the month! Which is good, yes … but not great. We're five games back of Detroit (57-30) and are currently leading the AL Wild Card race. But if we want to have the playoffs see Louisville getting some action for a change, we'll need to keep up this pace down the stretch! We're only halfway there.

We're hitting .294 as a team still, thanks to Jeff Alexander (.339, 4 HR), Alex Varney (.334, 19 HR) Abraham Mulrooney (.313) and Bobby "Boomboom" Mutton (.321, 10 HR). Our ERA though has improved DRAMATICALLY, to 4.39! Cy Murray's got a 9-1 record with a 3.77 ERA and 93 strikeouts, while Zach Lipschuetz has a 7-5 record and a 4.70 ERA (his most consistent start since 2011, when he went 20-6, the last year he posted a winning record). Nate Cunicelli is now 5-0 with a 2.28 ERA and that one save. And I have a 2-2 record, a 2.93 ERA and 21 saves, 11 of which came this month! I'm now in 7th place on the leaderboard, only eight saves behind first! In fact, this great June stretch has put me on target to equal my record from 2008 and 2009, when I put up 42 saves each for New York and Vancouver! The interesting thing is I'm only on track to do it in 62 games, which would be 12 less than in '09 and 17 less than in '08!

[boomboom]

Originally posted by Chipper_Jones
I'm thinking about it, boomboom, checked out Oakland, and I've been keeping a watchful eye on Cascade ... but I don't want to rejoin and then have to leave in a month.

No problem...we now have florida available and I believe Arizona...soon... along with Oakland!

[Chipper_Jones]

What do you think of the new format, Boomboom?

July 2014

1 - @ Rangers W 3-2 51-33
2 - Red Sox W 15-1 52-33 13,933
3 - Red Sox L 1-3 52-34 13,969
4 - Red Sox W 2-0 53-34 13,722
5 - Red Sox W 4-3 54-34 13,772
12 - @ Indians L 5-8 54-35
13 - @ Indians L 7-9 54-36
14 - @ Indians L 1-2 54-37
15 - @ Indians W 2-0 55-37
17 - Rangers W 9-8 56-37 14,456
18 - Rangers L 0-3 56-38 14,491
19 - Rangers L 2-7 56-39 14,394
20 - Rangers L 1-8 56-40 14,359
21 - White Sox L 0-5 56-41 13,601
22 - White Sox W 10-1 57-41 13,572
23 - White Sox W 3-0 58-41 13,717
24 - White Sox W 9-3 59-41 13,753
25 - Royals L 1-7 59-42 14,066
26 - Royals L 4-9 59-43 13,955
27 - Royals L 4-9 59-44 13,918
28 - @ Red Sox L 4-6 59-45
29 - @ Red Sox W 4-1 60-45
30 - @ Red Sox L 5-6 60-46
31 - @ Tigers L 3-4 60-47

Not a good month by any stretch. We went 10-14, our worst month of the season, to fall to 60-47. We're now three games back of Chicago, and nine behind Detroit, and if we want to win the wildcard, or make a run at the divisional title, we'd better make our moves now. We're currently 4.5 games out of the wild card race, which is far more competitive than the NL's; we've got SIX TEAMS within EIGHT GAMES, while in the NL it's a race between Milwaukee, Montreal and St. Louis, with Philly, Atlanta and Arizona too far back to be much of a threat.

We're still hitting well enough, .289 as a team (which is still the best in the division) and our team ERA is now 4.28, which is third in the division (and above the MLB average. Leadoff man Jeff Alexander's still hitting .326 and has a team high 13 stolen bases, while Bobby "Boomboom" Mutton is hitting .322 with 34 doubles and 12 homers. Alex Varney is slugging .546, thanks to a .311 average, 28 doubles and 22 homers. As for pitching, Cy Murray's slumping and I don't know why. He lost FIVE GAMES this month, to fall to 9-6, with a 4.22 ERA. Julio Terrance has surpassed him as a strikeout man, with a 6-7 record, 3.92 ERA and 139 K's. Zach Lipschuetz is 8-6 with a 4.69 ERA and Norton Margolin is 8-6 with a 5.69 ERA. In the bullpen, Nate Cunicelli is picking up the slack, with a 7-1 record, 2.71 ERA in twenty-eight total appearances as a rookie! I'm, meanwhile, 2-2 with a 2.97 ERA and 24 saves.

August and September will need to be solid, because we're in a TOUGH division. We could win ninety games and still miss the wildcard by five games, and that would really suck. Expectations are now high and we have to live up to them. Here's how we've done in the past:


2010 81-81 4th (Central)
2011 93-69 3rd (Central)
2012 77-85 5th (Central)
2013 73-89 5th (Central)

The fans NEED to see us in the playoffs, so they can build word-of-mouth and get more people into the stands. Speaking of which, though we didn't see any superhuge crowds, we're now averaging 11,417 per game. But since we had the slow first half, we'll be lucky to total a million fans for the season. That's damned near rock bottom -- we saw 1.7 million in 2010, 1.85 million in 2011, and 1.5 million in 2012 and 2013.

I talked to the team owner, Jim Irsay, who bought the team when his Colts moved to Los Angeles and the stockholders staged a buyout, booting him for saying the team SHOULD have stayed in Indianapolis. He told me to do what I can to bring in fans. He suggested lowering ticket prices to $5 per seat for the remainder, and if we make the playoffs, we can jack them up again. Seems fair! Bargain basement price for the fairweather fans, then in October we see who the REAL fans are ;)

[boomboom]

looks nice...i bet that coding took a while to do;)

[Chipper_Jones]

You'd be surprised how little extra work it is ... it depends on the forum, and this one's set up perfectly for it.

We signed a couple veterans to give this team some help preparing for this stretch:

- Mark Kotsay (CF) signed a deal worth $300,000 for two seasons, this and next … the 38-year-old vet, in his 18th season, played 12 games this year for the Mets, hitting .222 in nine at bats, but still slugging like he means it (got himself a homer and only struck out twice). He's not worn down yet, and could actually see some serious bench time, as our third backup!

- Michael Tejera, 37, signed a deal for this season only, worth $300,000. I'll decide to keep him depending on whether he plays. But the 16th year pitcher could certainly play a role in our relief corps, even if it's as a pitching coach.

- Last but not least, Chipper Jones, at 41, is one of the most celebrated vets in the game today. In his 22nd season, he wants $300,000 for this year and next, and though he hasn't played in the majors since 2012, he's still a great AAA player (.276 this year in 113 games, with 16 doubles and 29 homers!) It's been four years since he hit a major league homer, but I'm sure he'd love to get the nine he needs to reach the 500 club, he's already achieved so much (1,500 Runs, 1,500 RBIs, 2,500 hits) I can't imagine he couldn't inspire our players. But he'll be playing AAA for us too for now, and coaching from the sidelines unless I see something spectacular out of him.

August 2014

1 - @ Tigers W 9-2 61-47
2 - @ Tigers W 3-2 62-47
3 - @ Tigers W 7-5 63-47
4 - Orioles W 7-1 64-47 14,732
5 - Orioles W 7-2 65-47 14,754
6 - Orioles L 3-11 65-48 14,768
7 - Orioles L 6-8 65-49 14,659
8 - @ Blue Jays W 1-0 66-49
9 - @ Blue Jays L 0-6 66-50
10 - @ Blue Jays L 4-5 66-51
11 - @ Blue Jays W 6-3 67-51
14 - Twins W 9-0 68-51 14,329
15 - Twins W 15-4 69-51 14,441
16 - Twins W 8-2 70-51 14,459
17 - @ D-Rays W 15-4 71-51
18 - @ D-Rays W 4-2 72-51
19 - @ D-Rays W 6-3 73-51
20 - @ D-Rays L 3-5 73-52
21 - Mariners W 2-1 74-52 15,324
22 - Mariners W 4-3 75-52 15,378
23 - Mariners L 3-8 75-53 15,632
24 - Mariners L 4-15 75-54 15,586
25 - White Sox W 3-1 76-54 15,497
26 - White Sox W 5-4 77-54 15,544
27 - White Sox W 6-4 78-54 15,576
28 - Hellfish W 8-0 79-54 14,683
29 - Hellfish W 9-5 80-54 14,705
30 - Hellfish L 2-6 80-55 14,758
31 - Hellfish L 4-9 80-56 14,820

Thanks to a 20-9 month, we're now 80-56, heading into our last 26 games of the season with hopes of a wildcard spot on our mind. We're in second place in the unpredictable AL Central, 7.5 games back of Detroit, and with Kansas City (79-59) and Chicago (78-59) nipping at our heels. They key is that we lead the wildcard race for the AL, and KC and Chi-town are in second and third. So it looks like this close wildcard race could come down to what happens in these 26 games in this particular division! And even Detroit hasn't been guaranteed a playoff spot yet … it is still conceivable that they could hit the skids, lose a bunch of games, and miss out even on the wildcard. This is why September matters, folks!

We're hitting .294 as a team, and our ERA is an ever-improving 4.16! Alex Varney leads the way with a .339 average, 40 doubles, seven triples and 30 homers! Meanwhile, "Boomboom" is doing his job to hit, batting .315 with 14 homers and a career high 46 doubles! And don't forget Carlos Giberau, who has hit .307 with 44 doubles and 25 homers! When you look at the top ten players with doubles stats, you see Varney at #10, Giberau at #4, and "Boomboom" Mutton at #1! It's our big park, think about the number of those doubles that would be homers if we had a shorter center field wall!

As for pitching, I was perhaps the biggest shock of the month, as I now am 2-2, with a 2.62 ERA and 35 SAVES! I came from nowhere, got 11 more saves this month, and now am in 3rd place in the saves race, behind Frederick Laird (ATL) who has 38 and Gary Grieco (CHC) who has 40. I'm farmilliar with Grieco, who has a career record of 43 saves set back in 2008, the year I had 42. He has 231 in his career, at age 29. But Laird, at 30, hasn't been a closer for long. More of a short reliever, he's spent his career at Atlanta (all six years of it) and the 30-year-old just has 106 saves … though 98 have come in the last THREE years. Wow's all I can say.

But I wasn't the only stud on the team, I'm pleased to say. Cy Murray now is 13-7, a career best for wins, with a 3.93 ERA and 162 K's! Julio Terranova is just 8-7 with a 3.96 ERA, but he has 168 K's! Zach Lipschuetz (11-8, 4.24 ERA) and Norton Margolin (12-8, 5.27 ERA) are having solid seasons as well, which is good to see. Meanwhile, Nate Cunicelli is 8-2 with a 2.87 ERA in his ROOKIE SEASON, while veteran Javier Vasquez is 3-0 with a 5.92 ERA, a solid stand for the 37-year-old. But he doesn't have the control he used to, and has an OBA of .308, not good … don't know if he'll have a relief spot next spring or not. His contract renewal options will depend on it.

[Chipper_Jones]

September / October 2014

1 - Angels L 4-10 80-57 15,515
2 - Angels L 5-10 80-58 15,484
3 - Angels L 2-5 80-69 15,468
4 - Angels W 6-2 81-59 15,454
7 - @ Tigers W 3-1 82-59
8 - @ Tigers L 6-8 82-60
9 - @ Tigers L 3-7 82-61
10 - @ Indians L 3-5 82-62
11 - @ Indians W 8-6 83-62
12 - @ Indians W 9-2 84-62
13 - Yankees L 5-8 84-63 16,721
14 - Yankees L 4-10 84-64 16,685
15 - Yankees L 5-7 84-65 16,669
16 - Yankees L 0-15 84-66 16,664
20 - @ Catfish W 6-3 85-66
21 - @ Catfish W 5-2 86-66
22 - @ Catfish W 5-3 87-66
23 - @ Catfish W 6-2 88-66
24 - Canadians W 5-4 89-66 15,486
25 - Canadians W 4-1 90-66 15,506
26 - Canadians W 9-4 91-66 15,523
27 - Canadians W 4-3 92-66 15,538
28 - @ Athletics L 2-5 92-67
29 - @ Athletics W 4-1 93-67
30 - @ Athletics W 3-1 94-67
1 - @ Athletics L 7-10 94-68

I've never seen anything like this! We finished the regular season at 94-68, and actually TIED Texas in the WILD CARD RACE!


3 - Texas W 3-1 95-68 16,205

By winning the playoff game, we earned the wildcard spot, and a chance to face the Yankees in a best of five series! We're in the playoffs for the first time in team history! But Detroit, out of our division, finished 101-61, Anaheim went 109-53, and the New York Yankees, our first opponent, finished 115-47. Talk about David and Goliath!

Anyway, we finished the season hitting .293, with a team ERA of 4.12. Alex Varney finished with a .328 average, 49 doubles and 32 homers, while "Boomboom" Bobby Mutton had a .308 average, 57 doubles and 18 homers! Carlos Giberau added a .318 average, 51 doubles and 35 homers, which may well be a team record, I can't remember for sure. Even leadoff man Jeff Alexander kept up the hitting streak, going .325 this year, with 37 doubles and 51 walks. In four seasons, he's AVERAGING .317, impressive indeed, as he hits for contact, not necessarily for power.

I finished the season with a record of 3-2, a 2.84 ERA, and a CAREER HIGH 46 SAVES, in just 66 appearances! I was AL Saves leader for the second time in my career, and could win my second Cy Young (I won in 2010 for a 6-4 (1.36 ERA) season in which I had 34 saves.

Elsewhere in pitching, Cy Murray went 18-7 on the season, with a 3.55 ERA and 200 strikeouts! Julio Terranova (9-10) had 196 strikeouts. Norton Margolin, who started the season in my doghouse, recovered to go 14-9, with a 5.13 ERA (The ERA has to drop, but he's only 26, he'll develop some control). Nate Cunicelli made a strong case for Rookie of the Year honors, with his 11-2 record and 2.44 ERA in 92.1 innings (though usually the award ends up going to less deserving sluggers).

[Chipper_Jones]

AL DIVISIONAL SERIES
NEW YORK YANKEES (115-47) VS. LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS (95-68)


5 - @ Yankees L 2-6 0-1
6 - @ Yankees L 4-8 0-2
8 - Yankees W 1-0 1-2 21,872
9 - Yankees W 3-0 2-2 22,115
11 - @ Yankees W 5-2 3-2

Talk about a shocker! The home games? I can see that happening … but we had a 5-0 lead after two innings on THEIR turf, and they scored their two runs in the fourth. From there we just held on and came out with a stunner! Elsewhere in the AL, Anaheim dealt with the Detroit Tigers in five games, so we'll have to face them and their 109-53 glory. In the National League, the Chicago Cubs swept the Montreal Expos, so they'll get to face the Dodgers, who won in five against the New York Mets in an upset!

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
ANAHEIM ANGELS (109-53) @ LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS (95-68)


13 - @ Anaheim W 5-4 1-0
14 - @ Anaheim L 3-8 1-1
16 - Anaheim L 2-8 1-2 23,664
17 - Anaheim L 1-12 1-3 23,664
18 - Anaheim L 1-3 1-4 23,634

Tough playoff loss, but hey, I honestly didn't expect we'd be good enough to make the World Series yet, we're too young. I wish we'd given Anaheim more of a series though … we'll be back next year, get ready Louisville fans!

Anaheim got to wait to see who they'd play, as Chicago narrowly kept Los Angeles the underdogs at bay, with a seventh game win. That set up Chicago (106-56) against Anaheim (109-53) in the 2014 World Series. Anaheim won game one, Chicago took game two. Anaheim won game three, Chicago took four and five. Anaheim took game six to tie the series, but the Cubs would NOT be denied! F--- the goat, they took home the 2014 title, their second since 2010! Boston fans are still waiting for THEIR chance … 95 years and counting …

[Chipper_Jones]

We wound up averaging 13,468 fans in attendance per game on this season, which was far below expectations. The league says we had 1.2 million fans in attendance the past season, the least single season total in our history. That's going to have to improve if we want to be profitable. We lost $10.9 million this year, which is FAR from profitable.

Player Negotiations
Miguel Tejera (38, P) wanted a renewal, at $300,000, but I decided not to re-up his contract. He's no longer got the skills, though he's welcome to come back as a coach (but not for $300,000).

Free Agency
We needed a solid shortstop, and by God, I wasn't letting this free agency period pass us by! I offered 29-year-old Cesar Budisantoso (Overall: 88, Peak: 88) a contract worth $2.7 million a year for the next six years, which he accepted. And as much as I like Dan Hughes, he's no match for 27-year-old 3B Sid Evans, (Overall: 96, Peak: 96) who could become one of the best in the game! San Diego couldn't afford him, I offered him $3 million a year for seven, and he bit!

I also signed up-and-coming 30-year-old Warner Jamgochian, a promising catcher (Overall: 88, Peak: 88) at $1.1 million for four years, and starting pitcher Calvin Mark, 31, to a $990,000 deal for four years. That's a bloody bargain, he went 16-7 last year for Vancouver (who he has played for the last 11 seasons, his entire career! I may never know why they failed to sign him, I can't imagine $990K was going to break their bank.

I also had my eyes set on the Mets' stud pitcher Enrico Calzaretta, who is making $10.8 million through 2016. He went 21-4 in 2013 and 21-5 in 2014, making him one of the most consistently "winning" pitchers in the game! He's also had a sub-3.00 ERA for the past three seasons. We wound up sending them Abraham Mulrooney, Brian Tietz and Ron Himmerstein along with $2 million, which was a STEAL when it comes to making Enrico our #2 starter! The trade made the news, as ESPN analysts all seemed to agree that we'd gotten a bargain!

Minor League Draft (1/17/15)

ROUND 1 (PICK 30)
SP - Marlon Kotlyar (22) Overall: 77, Peak: 83
Marlon went 12-4 last year in his first AA season, and had a 3.66 ERA. What's more, he started in thirty games, pitching 147.2 innings with an OBA of .204 and 129 strikeouts! The sky's the limit with this kid.

ROUND 2 (PICK 66)
1B - Phil Wineberg (23) Overall: 68, Peak: 82
Phil was unspectacular his first two years in AA, as he was lucky to hit .242 … but he spent 2014 working on his contact and power, with drils developed to help him better see the right hit to make, and his stats soared! He hit .345 last year, with 19 doubles and eight homers, impressing everyone he played against. He's got a lot going for him, but he'll still have a lot to prove.

ROUND 3 (PICK 102)
SS - Ulric Goddyn (22) Overall: 59, Peak: 77
Ulric's a risk. He's not nearly ready yet even for a bench role, but he could turn into a solid shortstop. I'll take the risk, it's only one roster spot and $300K a year. If he sucks, I can trade him or drop him.

ROUND 4 (PICK 138)
LF - Martin Shain (22) Overall: 64, Peak: 75
His stats don't impress, but I think he's trainable. Another risk we can afford to take.

ROUND 5 (PICK 174)
RF - Elvis Horne (22) Overall: 58, Peak: 77
Give him a year or two and Horne should impress. He's got a great arm, moderate power and decent speed, but won't be a good contact hitter. May make a good DH down the road.

ROUND 6 (PICK 210)
CF - Luis Samarez (26) Overall: 61, Peak: 67
Luis has spent four years in AA ball, peaking in 2013, and then having an off year in 2014 due to injuries. He's a health risk, but if it pays off, he's got great range and is a decent fielder. He may become a good backup, but I'm sure he'll never start, at least not consistently.

Signed a 29-year-old rookie, Ed Fay, to be a potential bullpen player … he played 11 games for Arizona in 2014, putting up a 2.03 ERA and a .196 OBA. I think he's got style, and our bullpen could certainly benefit by having him. I gave him a deal worth $620,000 for four years. I also may have found a diamond in the rough in 27-year-old rookie Esteban Icaza, who has great control, amazing movement, and is available CHEAP! In 58 AAA games last year, he went 1-2, had a 3.76 ERA and a .207 OBA. He also had 22 saves, so he could make a good short reliever. He accepted my offer of $970,000 per year for three years.

Made a risky trade … sent weak vet Carlos Guillen (SS), a decent young player (Jose Camacho, LF) and stud right fielder Alex Varney to Boston for Tim Zelichenko, a 27-year-old starting pitcher who has great endurance, wonderful movement skill, and tight power! Zelichenko is making $300,000 through 2015, and has put together a 62-51 record (4.26 ERA) in his five years as a starter (including going 18-8 in 2013 with a 2.83 ERA and 15-10 last year with a 3.47 ERA). Once the trade went through, I signed him to a seven year extension worth $2.1 million per year! He'll be our top starter, moving Cy Murray to #2 and Enrico Calzaretta to #3.

But that leaves us with no proven right fielder to start the season … so I had to make a tough decision. Who could I offer to get the player I needed, when most of what we have are youthful players? I finally got New York to agree to my sending Marlon Kotlyar and Phil Wineberg and $8M to them for D i c k Mears, who hit .347 last year with 31 doubles and 46 homers! He's one of the best fielders in the game, has contact, power, speed and a good eye, and is perhaps the best young hitter I've seen since I started as GM … I don't know how I got them to avoid asking for "Boomboom" Mutton, who seems to be who everyone wants, but I managed to pull the deal off for youth. Odd, the Yanks usually love vets!


I'll get to the full roster listing, as well as our budget for the 2015 season, once I get out of class today :)

[Chipper_Jones]

LOUISVILLE ROSTER
The list of players and their roles. Rating on left is current, right is projected peak. Our ratings are +/- 5%, according to the league ranking of our scouting and such.

HITTING
1. Ross Lee (2B) 28, Rookie (67/70)
2. Jeff Alexander (CF) 26, 5th Season (82/82)
3. Richard Mears* (RF) 27, 6th Season (97/97)
4. "Boomboom" Mutton (1B) 24, 4th Season (100/100)
5. Carlos Giberau (LF) 31, 7th Season (97/97)
6. Sid Evans (3B) 27, 7th Season (96/96)
7. Warner Jamgochian (C) 30, 4th Season (85/85)
8. Dan Hughes (DH) 29, 6th Season (82/82)
9. Cesar Budisantoso (SS) 29, 6th Season (85/85)

B1. Luke Allen (RF) 36, Rookie (67/69)
B2. Vince McCloskey (SS) 23, Rookie (62/72)
B3. Mark Kotsay (CF) 39, 19th Season (67/67)
B4. Wesley Bourne (SS) 29, 3rd Season (65/65)
B5. Hector Arnold (C) 23, 3rd Season (78/78)

(AAA) Chipper Jones (LF) 42, 23rd Season (61/61)
(AAA) Terry Mitchell (LF) 24, Rookie (70/78)
(AAA) Luis Samarez (CF) 26, Rookie (61/67)
(AAA) Joe Dutko (C) 26, Rookie (64/68)
(AAA) Ulric Goddyn (SS) 22, Rookie (59/76)
(AAA) Daryl Wrisley (3B) 20, Rookie (60/72)
(AAA) Martin Shain (LF) 22, Rookie (64/72)
(AAA) Elvis Horne (RF) 22, Rookie (60/72)
(AAA) Bernie Thomas (LF) 20, Rookie (60/74)

PITCHING
1. Tim Zelichenko (27) 6th Season (95/95)
2. Enrico Calzaretta (31) 10th Season (95/95) Last year's NL Cy Young Winner!
3. Julio Terranova (23) 4th Season (95/95)
4. Cy Murray (23) 5th Season (93/93)
5. Zack Brown (23) 3rd Season (94/94)

Closer: Jonathan Sanders (33) 12th Season (100/100)
Setup: Esteban Icaza (27) Rookie (70/78)
Short: Zach Lipschuetz (29) 6th Season (89/89)
Middle: Norton Margolin (27) 5th Season (85/85)
Long: Nate Cunicelli (26) 2nd Season (78/86)
Alt: Calvin Mark (31) 12th Season (78/78)

(AAA) Chin-hui Tsao (33) 12th Season (78/78)
(AAA) Freddy Garcia (38) 17th Season (71/71)
(AAA) Mario Ramos (37) 12th Season (68/68)
(AAA) Vincent Kazmirzak (24) Rookie (68/78)
(AAA) Ed Fay (29) Rookie (71/71)
(AAA) Javier Vasquez (38) 18th Season (64/64)
(AAA) Marlon Robinson (24) Rookie (64/71)
(AAA) Oliver Olsen (24) Rookie (60/60)
(AAA) Tim Redding (37) 15th Season (59/59)

*I'm tired of typing D i c k Mears to avoid the f---ing censor, so I edited his name to Richard Mears.

Tickets will cost $24.75 this year for home games, we think this will bring us the most fans and the most money possible … problem is we're only set to make $32.7 million, with expenses that should hit $58.9 million. We'll lose anyone who wants more money next year, which includes Dan Hughes, Jeff Alexander, Freddy Garcia, Chin-hui Tsao, Javier Vasquez and Tim Redding, among others. I would cut them now, but I would lose money we don’t have. So enjoy this season, next year the financial crunch really hits.

[jonnymo]

Great dynasty, with a unique perspective!


Originally posted by Chipper_Jones
AL Championship Series
…

November 8, 2009 - @ Vancouver (Game 7) Series Tied 3-3
This game was rather anticlimactic … we led 3-0 by the end of the fourth inning, and Seattle only mustered one run at the top of the sixth. I came in to clinch it in the bottom of the ninth: John Redding grounded out to third, Jonny Gomes lined out to center, and poor Josh Bard struck out. I got my third save in the playoffs! I've pitched four innings and given up only three hits, with NO RUNS, earned or otherwise! Not that anyone expected anything different … in 74 appearances during the regular season, I only gave up 13 earned runs.

I have two questions:

1. What happened in the 2009 World Series? Your write-up skips from Game 7 of the ALCS to the expansion draft.

2. How did you conduct your expansion drafts?

I look forward to reading more, especially about your finances.