More Graphs!

Apologies to Marietta, your line was wrong in the last set. Hopefully it's all fixed in this set.





Thanks to some horrendous interleague play by the Kant Division, we're all trending down while Hegel's on the way up.

Sim #4 Completed

We've finished the month of April 2002. Batters of the month were Pittsburgh's outfielder Tracy Snider and Brooklyn's second baseman Miyatarou Takenao. Pitchers of the month were Pittsburgh's Ramiro Roxas and Marietta's Brandon Millette.

In other news, defending champion Marietta remains mired in fifth place. No major injuries were sustained. Cairo has the top two prospects in the game, both starting pitchers, although Stockholm has the best minor league system. Millette and Jersey City's Ediberto Diaz threw the best-pitched games of the year with game scores of 88.

Anyway, lots of stuff to look over. The game files are in the process of being updated as I post this. Nate's up next on Monday.

Resolution of Marietta Reliever Issue

Well, here's the final decision. Poor Mr. Tozier is going to come down with a serious case of the willies, one that will cost him the rest of the season. A couple of notes though.

First, nobody believes that Nate did anything wrong (or at least they didn't tell me if they did). The most compelling statement I received said, in essence, if Tozier got injured for the year, he should be injured for the year. There's a certain basic fairness to that idea. So, Mr. Tozier will go down.

I'd also like to point out in connection with this point that Nate offered, right away, to have his player re-injured. I was the one who told him to hold off until I got input from the rest of the league.

Second, and this may be the most important part, this game has bugs. Weird things happen. Players who are hurt, suddenly and inexplicably heal. Other players stay hurt long beyond the projection without any of the "he's not recovering fast" emails. Players suddenly and inexplicably pick up service time despite never being promoted to the majors. We are not going to be in the practice of running around and fixing the game's bugs. This is expected to be a one-time event, caused only by the coincidence that it happened to Nate's player, that it happened during a sim he ran, and that the bug benefited him. If this happens to someone on the Helena, Jersey City, or Winnipeg franchises (to use three examples), Nate and I are NOT going to fix that. The bugs in the game are a random occurrence that even out over time and that's just the way it is.

Graphs!

New this week, click for a bigger version! The Google spreadsheet is now updated as well -- in case you forget what game day the sim began on, I put the next day to be input in the top left of the spreadsheet.

Important Issue re: Marietta Reliever

During Spring Training this year, one of Marietta's excellent relievers, John Tozier was reported to have sustained a season-ending injury. Nate even referenced this in his post-Spring Training email to the league. However, Tozier did not show up as injured in the league file before the first sim and has, consequently, pitched (and pitched well) in six games since then.

There are, as often is the case in life, two possible explanations. One is that this occurred by happenstance as a result of a bug in the game. Bugs in the game that do weird things are nothing new to seasoned OOTP players. The other stems from the fact that Nate is simultaneously the commissioner, the person who ran the spring training sim, and the owner of Marietta.

I am not coming out and accusing Nate of misconduct. But, this was brought to my attention and Nate and I both recognize that it's the kind of thing that could look bad. And, as I hope Nate and I have tried to make clear, we want this league to succeed and that requires that the commissioners be free from any kind of suspicion or belief that the results are being manipulated. That is why, when I realized last season that I had inadvertently grabbed a free agent reliever before other players had the chance to sign him, I immediately released the reliever (taking the minimal salary hit) and refused to pick him back up despite the fact that my bullpen was abjectly awful.

Where do we go from here? I see two principle options. First, we go in and, using SuperCommissioner powers, re-injure Tozier for the rest of the season. Second, we let it go and let him keep playing.

So, this is how I propose to handle it. Please DO NOT comment in response to this blog post. Instead, send me an email with your thoughts about how to proceed. Both the identities of who responds and their responses will be confidential, both from Nate and from the other owners. Once I get a sense for whether this is something that troubles the league owners, I'll make the decision about how to proceed. Nate has already agreed in advance that he would agree to re-injuring the player if it's the best course of action.

Thanks.

Sim #3 complete

Sim #3 is now complete! For those playing at home my team is still in 5th and not improving. Those wishing to acquire top-flight relievers for prospects…please write.

There was one player who had a player on DFA who needed assigning. He had no space on his 40-man roster so I just released him. Keep up with that, people!

Notes from this sim:

Sylva should keep up with their insurance payments. Two injuries in one sim is bad luck!

4/25/07 – Pittsburgh puts up 18 runs against Sylva!

4/24/07 – Maryland puts up 6 runs in the top of the 10th to break a tie and beat Helena!

4/23/07 – Stockholm puts up 18 runs against Winnipeg! Give it a rest guys!

On the upside, Helena Pitcher Tomas Folch put up a new high game score for a pitcher this season with an 86 against Maryland. He went 7.2 inning allowing 2 hits, 1 walk and striking out 12!

Similarly, Pittsburgh right fielder George Pullum put up a stunning 112 game score on April 25. He went 6 for 6 with 4 runs scored, 6 RBI, and 2 home runs!

Mack is up next on Friday!

Sim #2 Completed

The web pages are being uploaded right now. Sim #2 is complete. Jersey City grabs the early pole position with a 7-2 record. Defending champion Marietta recovers and takes three of five games. Brooklyn has a four-game winning streak going. Three guys in the Platonic League are hitting OVER .500.

Next sim on Wednesday by Nate.

Belated Trade Announcement

The Pittsburgh Pisces belatedly announce a trade made with the Helena Handbaskets immediately before the season. The Pisces sent first baseman Wiley Reynoso to the Handbaskets in exchange for a fourth-round pick next year and "some guy in the minors," announced team spokesman Murray Sports, recently hired away from Channel 4 Action News.

When asked why the trade was made, Mr. Sports explained simply that "Wiley was a Sagittarius. Not a Pisces. Aren't you people paying attention?"

Return of the graphs!

A couple things: First, I just used some default colors for these. If you have any preference, let me know (first come, first served on anything too similar).

Second, I very nearly decided to leave the game recently, because of college and whatnot. These sorts of things help keep me interested and feeling useful. I've posted a spreadsheet on Google Docs (you all should have gotten an invite) which I use to make these graphs.

If you'd like to help me out, you can visit that graph after a sim is run, and update it for your team, division or everyone. It's pretty easy: The teams are listed across the top, and underneath is their cumulative win total. For example, Cairo, my team, went 3-2 over the first sim -- but what's important for the graph is not just the total wins and losses, but the order. I lost my first game, so I entered a "0" for the first game (that's a zero, not a letter "o"). Then I got my first win, so I entered a 1. Then I lost one, so my win total remained at 1. Then I won again, so it went up to 2, and so on. For a win, increase your win total by one. For a loss, leave your win total the same, but be sure to enter a number for each game. Also note that sometimes the number of games played by each team is not the same, so your column may not be even with other teams'. I get the info by going to the "schedule" option under the "league" menu, then scrolling back to the first day I need to add to the graph (listed in the top left corner of the graph, by the way). I then write down whether each team won or lost that day, rinse and repeat.

Anyway, I can keep up with it myself if I have to -- it doesn't take terribly long each time as long as I do it every sim, but if any of you feel like helping out, I thought I would give you the option. Also, suggestions for other things that might be interesting to see change over the season are welcome, and I'll see what I can do.

We are underway!

The first sim is run. You all will be happy to know that your defending champion, me, went 0-4 to start the season.

Dang.

The awards for hot starts go to Pittsburgh, Sylva, Seattle, Stockholm, and Jersey City who all went through the sim and only lost one game. How quickly the divisions in our talent bases show themselves, folks.

One owner had a player on DFA. I did not release him but made the move I thought best to keep the game flowing.

Everyone check your teams! Make sure your major league rosters are full (if you wish them to be) and make sure your DFA and Waivers are processing properly.

Rule V Draft

Here are your Rule V Draftees for the upcoming season. Let's wish them all well in their new, major league, home.

Stockholm Rule 5 Draft Round 1 Pick: P William Tyler from Cairo.
Maryland Rule 5 Draft Round 1 Pick: P Willie Cruys from Winnipeg.
New York Rule 5 Draft Round 1 Pick: 3B Abram Stamps from Helena.
Maryland Rule 5 Draft Round 2 Pick: CF Franky Gingras from Stockholm.
New York Rule 5 Draft Round 2 Pick: SS Jerry McDonald from Maryland.

NOTE: I will be running Spring Training instead of Mack. File your Spring Training adjustments in the game and I'll download them and get them run on Wednesday evening.

Anyone need an OF?

I have an arsenal of 2-3 star outfielders and wouldn't mind flipping one or two for a fair-to-middling pitching prospect, or perhaps in a package for a better outfielder.

Let me know if you have any interest.

-- Michael / Stockholm

Free Agency, Days 26-30

Only one major league signing: Helena signs free agent RF Shane Spies to a contract of $2,000,000 per year, for 2 years.

Lots of minor league signings at the end of free agency.

Next up - Rule 5 Draft. Make all necessary roster moves (adding players to the 40-Man Roster to remove them from the list of Rule 5 draft eligible players) by Friday. Nate will download the roster changes then and the rosters will be frozen until after the Rule 5 draft on Monday.

Any questions, email Nate or me.

Free Agency, Days 21-25

The only signing was on Day 22:

Seattle : CF James McKinsey, 3,005,000 per year, for 2 years.

Last free agency sim will be by me on Wednesday evening.

Free Agency, Days 17-20

Day 17 :
Seattle : P John Toy, 350,000 per year, for 2 years.

Day 18 :
Brooklyn : 1B Antonio Alicea, 601,000 per year, for 2 years.
Seattle : P Paul Davis, 1,110,000 per year, for 1 year.

Day 19 :
Helena : P Wilfredo Desilva, 4,610,000 per year, for 3 years.

Day 20 :
No signings

Free Agency, Days 14-16

Day 14:

Sylva: Free agent 3B Raymond Bullington has been signed to a contract of $1,750,000 per year, for 2 years.

Day 15:

New York: Free agent 3B Jose Collado has been signed to a contract of $4,500,000 per year, for 1 years.
Pittsburgh: Free agent 3B Tyler Payne has been signed to a contract of $1,750,000 per year, for 2 years.
Stockholm: Free agent 2B Jermaine Schaefer has been signed to a contract of $350,000 per year, for 1 years.

Day 16:

No signings.