Fenway Park Question

[JONBOURDON]

I am a long time SOM player. Received my 1st set in 1972 when i was six. Played religiously for 25 plus years. Now getting back into it thanks yo TSN. I have settled into the 1980's format as my favorite. Standings can change significantly all season. Thanks for all the postings. I have only been in three leagues. All sub-.500 finishes. Getting ready to start season four. I think I have learned more from reading these postings during this night when I am up with the stomach flu then the first three seasons. ANYWAY...as a long time REd Sox fan I am stuck on Fenway Park. Plus havin gthe same park allows me to compare stats each year. My question is....is Fenway a stadium that has much success in winning these leagues? What type of players do you look for. I have been drafted low whip & high obp. Thanks.

[bjs73]

Your draft strategy is correct. Everyone is vying for that. I'm probably not the best one to offer advice on Fenway since my best record there in 2 tries is .500 but as a general rule the actual types of players you would want there as far as pitching goes are ones that have a very solid h/ip ratio vs. just the straight WHIP factor.

One that comes to mind would be Mario Soto. Sure he does give up the occasional walk or 6 :shock: but he keeps opponents' batting averages low and you'll need that to offset the quick infield at Fenway.

A pitcher like Ken Forsch, while being a good value as far as WHIP is concerned, may not be the most awesome fit at Fenway.

In my opinion, Fenway allows a manager to draft non-power hitting lefty hitters like Gwynn, Carew, and Boggs that usually are power positions. While everyone else is filling out their draft cards for Mattingly, Brett, Schmidt, and Winfield at the top of the card, you could be listing Sandberg and Yount! That's a great trade off and may even allow you to get an awesome draft together.

Just remember this piece of advice when placing Yount at the top of your draft card: Yount is listed as a CF first on his card. If you fail to get him in the draft, you'll default to the next best CF'er available, not a shortstop! So in other words, it isn't a bad idea to list an alternate SS on your card as a contingency plan and then trade one if you happen to actually get Yount.

Hope this helps some and good luck!

[nycalderon]

I never played at Fenway... as a visitor that stadium has been a house of horrors for me...

[Ducky]

Out of my Fenway teams that have finished, I have a championship and a loss in the semifinals. My third Fenway team is up 3-2 in the championship. I've attached the links for you to see. I like to go with at least one "ace" type pitcher and I don't get enamored with home run hitters, but look for OBP and decent fielding skills. All three of these teams finished second in the league in runs scored, but did not hit over 200 home runs.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=48238

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=51121

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=59819

Good luck and welcome to your latest addiction. Once you get started, it is hard to stop. 8)

[Ducky]

Update on my third Fenway team. They won the championship this evening by a score of 11-6 in 11 innings. Rick Cerone, replacing the injured Darrel Porter, added the icing on the cake with an extra inning grand slam to help seal the victory.

Mike :D

[Outta Leftfield]

Congrats on winning the championship, mrmdoetkott!

Meanwhile, the explanations above about how to construct a Fenway team are very helpful, I think I'm getting the idea of how to play in the park, which has up till now been pretty baffling to me. In fact, I'm considering trying Fenway for my next team.

So, please let me know if this is a good way to think of it. I've had pretty good success in Royals, and for my Royals teams I've gone both for OBP and for more power than I think most people use--e.g., my latest Royals team hit 204 HR, even though they were working against the park. So, what if I think of Fenway as being a lot like Royals, but with a bit more power--that is, basically a singles park, esp. for lefties (19/16), but also allowing some HR, esp for righties (5/9). That might work more or less perfectly with my current design for a Royals offense, except that I'll need to pay a little more attention to the LH/RH balance.

So I'm asking the Fenway vets--does this make sense for the offense? I think I understand how to handle the pitching. :wink:

[Ducky]

That sounds about right. Go with high OBP singles and doubles hitters from the left side and the power guys from the right side. Andre Thornton seems to do particularly well for me in Fenway. Dwight Evans and Von Hayes are two others that perform quite well. I like Darrel Porter as my main catcher in Fenway and, of course, Boggs does a great job hitting in Fenway. 8)

Mike

[Outta Leftfield]

[quote:193b5f9cf6="mrmdoetkott"]That sounds about right. Go with high OBP singles and doubles hitters from the left side and the power guys from the right side. Andre Thornton seems to do particularly well for me in Fenway. Dwight Evans and Von Hayes are two others that perform quite well. I like Darrel Porter as my main catcher in Fenway and, of course, Boggs does a great job hitting in Fenway. 8)

Mike[/quote:193b5f9cf6]

Sounds good, Mike!

I'd already thought about Dwight Evans. Porter is often on the FA table but I'll bet he'd be just right in Fenway. Thorton is also usually available. How hard/easy is it to draft Boggs? I've only tried to draft him once and missed him....

[seanreflex]

The center fielder that seems to do extremely well at Fenway Park (I've had him there 6 times, he's hit over 40 HR and over 110 RBI every single year) is Stormin' Gorman Thomas.

I agree completely with your plan -- my Fenway Champion team had Boggs and Hernandez at the top of the order, both hitting .340 +

Then I had Thomas, Dawson, Oglivie and Madlock, all having monster years.

Pitching was a 5 man rotation -- Boyd, Schatzeder, Wilcox, Dravecky and somebody else.

I had Concepcion at SS, and a 2B combo of J.Cruz and Foley (both hit in the .270 range with a .300 OBP -- not bad for $1.5 mill)

I think Mike's comment on grabbing pitchers with low hits per innings pitched, rather than just the WHIP, is important. I love playing at Fenway, as I grew up in New England and suffered the heartaches in 67, 75 and 86.

Good luck,

Sean

PS: I did a theme league where I had the Red Sox -- they won 91 games. Clemens was a 25 game winner, Boyd and Hurst were great. Boggs hit .380; Rice, Evans, Lynn and Greenwell were all HUGE HUGE HUGE, and Spike Owen was a stud at SS. Remy and Barrett split 2B, I didn't get Fisk, so got stuck with Gedman (who was awful) and Cerone. It was a TON of fun, and I would do it again. I actually had a great bullpen with Burgmeier, Lee Smith, Bill Campbell.

[Outta Leftfield]

[quote:9114b04466]The center fielder that seems to do extremely well at Fenway Park (I've had him there 6 times, he's hit over 40 HR and over 110 RBI every single year) is Stormin' Gorman Thomas.

I agree completely with your plan -- my Fenway Champion team had Boggs and Hernandez at the top of the order, both hitting .340 +

Then I had Thomas, Dawson, Oglivie and Madlock, all having monster years.

Pitching was a 5 man rotation -- Boyd, Schatzeder, Wilcox, Dravecky and somebody else.
[/quote:9114b04466]

I had been thinking about Stormin' Gorman. The 1-16 for singles would help keep his average up, and he'd hit his share of HR with the 1-9, plus give great D. I like it, I like it. The other suggestions are good too, and I was thinking of a 5-man rotation. Very helpful advice!