Let's go to "The Ballpark"

[ArtemusRex]

Decided on a whim to make my way to the Stratomatic game. Made a rush decision on the stadium pick. Knew if I picked Coors I'd have to field a team with mashers and little or specialized pitching. So looking quickly at the stats I decided on The Ballpark because it was down the middle.

What'd I'd like to know is are there any managers with any The Ballpark experiences. Anything I should know? I am playing the 2001 season if thats any help.

Thanks and wish me luck.

[MARCPELLETIER]

Anything I should know?

Only three words:

Santos, Weber, Venafro.

Good luck for your 2001 quest, and have a look at the beginning thread in the strategy section.

[1crazycanuk]

What team's home park is called "The Ballpark"? I have been wondering that.

Also, do many Coors teams even win? I just got done a league where a Coors team led the league in runs and was last in pitching. They were sub-.500.

[hechojazz]

The Ballpark is in Arlington...Texas. Ranger territory.

[MARCPELLETIER]

Actually, 2001 is the ideal season to have a winning Coors team.

Since them, TSN-STRAT has raised significantly the price of good cheapy starters.

The good cheapies that you could have found at 0.5M now costs around 1.5-2M.

That being said, it's still possible to have a winning team in Coors, but you have to make sure your pitching is deep enough to maintain a 5.50 ERA, at minimum.

[ArtemusRex]

Oh, I guess seeing my team wouldn't hurt. (Hits hand on forehead.)

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2001/team/team.html

[ArtemusRex]

Here's part of a thread on my team that belongs here.


JKolak
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Display at Top 03 Jan 2006 19:11 Send private message Reply with quote
Green Acres III is my 81st 2001 team. Here is my opinion on your team:

Pitchers (12)
Name T End. W L S IP H ER BB SO ERA WHIP BAL Salary
Moyer, J. L S6* 20 6 0 209.2 187 80 44 119 3.43 1.10 3R 7.82M
Lieber, J. R S7* 20 6 0 232.1 226 98 41 148 3.80 1.15 6R 7.50M
Pettitte, A. L S7* 15 10 0 200.2 224 89 41 164 3.99 1.32 2L 5.25M
Mulholland, T. L S5/R3 1 1 0 65.2 78 34 17 42 4.66 1.45 4L 1.56M
Wright, J. R S6* 11 12 0 194.2 201 106 98 129 4.90 1.54 3L 1.31M
Halama, J. L S5/R3 10 7 0 110.1 132 58 26 50 4.73 1.43 8R .88M
Santana, J. L S5/R3 1 0 0 43.2 50 23 16 28 4.74 1.51 1L .53M
Villone, R. L S5/R3 6 10 0 114.2 133 75 53 113 5.89 1.62 5L .50M
Rivera, M. R R2/C6 4 6 50 80.2 61 21 12 83 2.34 .90 5L 9.12M
Franco, J. L R1/C1 6 2 2 53.1 55 24 19 50 4.05 1.43 6L .50M
Padilla, V. R R2 3 1 0 34.0 36 16 12 29 4.24 1.41 3R .50M
Santiago, J. R R2 2 4 0 62.1 66 25 13 28 3.61 1.40 7R .50M

Your starting pitching is horrible other than for Pettitte. Rivera is great for the pen but not worth $9.12M. Unfortunately, there is not too much quality available among the free agents to help you. You would be better off with Russ Ortiz, Ramon Ortiz, Jeff Weaver and Darryl Kile among the starters. Tom Gordon is 2.5M cheaper than Rivera and almost as effective. The free agent pile is short of setup men though.....


Hitters (16)
Name B P Def. AB R 2B HR RBI BB SB BA SLG OBP BAL Salary
Pierzynski, A. L C 3(0)e3 381 51 33 7 55 16 1 .289 .441 .322 7R 2.68M
Santiago, B. R C 3(-1)e3 477 39 25 6 45 23 5 .262 .369 .295 E 1.37M
Estrada, J. S C 4(0)e2 298 26 15 8 37 16 0 .228 .359 .273 1L .59M
Not too bad among the catchers although AJ needs a platoon partner.

Martinez, T. L 1B 2e6 589 89 24 34 113 42 1 .280 .501 .329 E 3.35M
A solid value pick

Anderson, M. L 2B 3e14 522 69 30 11 61 35 8 .293 .421 .337 3L 2.25M
Hold your nose!

Berg, D. R 2B 3e27 215 26 12 4 16 14 0 .242 .363 .292 4R .50M
Brosius, S. R 3B 2e30 428 57 25 13 49 34 3 .287 .446 .343 1L 2.92M
They both suck!

Jeter, D. R SS 2e17 614 110 35 21 74 56 27 .311 .480 .377 1L 4.92M
A good solid pick...

Counsell, C. L SS 3e18 458 76 22 4 38 61 6 .275 .362 .359 2L 2.59M
Overpriced and underperforms...

Anderson, G. L LF 3(0)e2 672 83 39 28 123 27 13 .289 .478 .314 1R 2.67M
He's OK but you need better in a hitter's park.

Spencer, S. R LF 2(-2)e3 283 40 14 10 46 21 4 .258 .428 .315 5L 2.27M
Overpriced platoon material at best.

Williams, B. S CF 2(+2)e2 540 102 38 26 94 78 11 .307 .522 .395 1R 5.75M
Solid.

Patterson, C. L CF 2(-1)e10 131 26 3 4 14 6 4 .221 .336 .266 2L .50M
At least he is on the bench.

Suzuki, I. L RF 1(-5)e1 692 127 34 8 69 30 56 .350 .457 .381 2R 5.34M
Best leadoff in 2001 IMO.

Sierra, R. S RF 4(+1)e21 344 55 22 23 67 19 2 .291 .561 .322 1L 3.19M
Alright if he stays healthy. Injuries are a problem.

Dunston, S. R RF 3(-2)e14 186 26 10 9 25 2 3 .280 .511 .293 5L 2.31M
One of the best platoon players when coupled with a LH hitter who crushes RH pitching.

Your team needs some work. It looks like a 72-90 season team to me.

DAVID M. CARROLLBlog
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Display at Top 04 Jan 2006 05:25 Send private message Reply with quote
Jkolak, knows his 2001. He currently has a 12 game lead on me. There are only about 4 of us managing in that league and will be a dog fight for the wild card spot. I also played against him way back when, He won then too. I drafted some good starters and high OPB guys, at Comerica. I have done well there, but slip a bit on the road. Eventually dumped middle infield for higher defense and injury at short for 10 games.
Will probably get 1 more 01 team later on, if someone let's me know when another league is forming, wished I hadn't missed this one. Good luck all.

ArtemusRexBlog
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Display at Top 04 Jan 2006 12:25 Send private message Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post
Thanks for the heads up.
I had actually traded M.Anderson for H.Bush but now I have Bush back and put him number 9 in lineup so his right bat flows into Ichiro's lefty bat and won't slow him down on the base pads. Berg is easily gone as he was a righty for Anderson's lefty.
I think w/ Brocious was my one instance of going for a name. After relooking at his stats, I realized I was probably thinking of the 1999 version. I had really picked him up for defense but looked past his errors and only to his range. Councel will probably take over at third and picked up G.Blum as back up utility. This freed up some money to upgrade my number four starter to Ramon Oritz (not Russ). Will probably go w/ four man rotation.
Don't know what do about Garret. If he lacks production I suppose I could platoon w/ Dunston.
What I plan to do is have four lineups. Righty and Lefty lineups for regular/pitchers parks and one set for homerun parks.
At Catcher, Santiago w/ get the call at regular. AJ will be a lefty platoon at DH in pitcher parks and C in HR parks. Sierra is my DH platoon in HR parks. Dunston will be my righty DH in pitcher parks unless I end up giving it to AJ. The reason I went w/ Santiago is he has a better arm and I am in a division without a HR friendly park.

Thanks for the headsup on Anderson, Brocious, and rotation. Honestly, if I have a rookie season with a .500 record I will call this a success.

ArtemusRexBlog
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Display at Top 04 Jan 2006 16:48 Send private message Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post
Not that I won't try for a better record I'm just realistic.

Did some more checking and I'm not really convinced that Russ Ortiz is more than a lateral move than Lieber and Lieber has a better Whip. The upgrade for the other Ortiz though was a good.

About a four man rotation, does the game have any "penalty" for running a four man rotation like increased chance of injury.

Since the above post I've evaluated Garret and have decided to keep him for now. He has good defense and slightly above avg hitting stats for the price. I'm not sure if having him as my number 3 hitter is wise behind Ichiro and Jeter and in front of Bernie, but we shall see. Having the first two weeks in division is a great way for me to tweak my regular/pitchers friendly lineup. Maybe I'll move Bernie up to three and have Reuben Sierra as cleanup in my HR park line. Having to switch hitters like that does give me flexibility.

Another reason I'll keep Garret on my roster is that he can also play CF in case Bernie goes down. And with Dunston also able to fill in at LF and CF, I was able to drop Corey Patterson and leave that final spot on my roster and the half million he would back in reserves for a mid season pick up for injury.

ArtemusRexBlog
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Been thinking about what you said about Spencer. Now that I've decided to keep Garret I don't really think I need him. Over $2 mil is alot to pay for a player who is not even a platoon player at LF, RF or DH. At best he is third option for those positions. So much like I did with Corey Patterson, I am dropping him and using his salary elsewhere

In this case, I am dropping Counsel and combining their salary to pick up Bill Meuller at 3B. Only rap against Bill is that he only played 70 games in 2001. Well, I had plenty of cash to pick up Nunez who can play 3b and LF so he replaces Spencer and Counsel's utility ability. Plus with Blum, I have plenty of options at 3b.

One that won't play there is Viscaino whose errors at SS and 3b (his listed position) keeps from any consideration their. However at 2b his defense is quite good. Hopefully "Hal" won't put him at 3b when Bill goes down but at least its not his primary postion. And if Jeter goes down I'll have more to worry about then Viz's poor defense at that position for a series.


JKolak
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Display at Top 04 Jan 2006 18:44 Send private message Reply with quote
There is no penalty for a 4 man rotation. The worst a *starter can get injured is 3 games. They will come back just in time for their next start.

Dave: I plan to email TSN and request credits for the 4 of us battling for 2 playoff spots in the East. The fact that the other teams were no actively managed puts us all at a disadvantage since we had to play 90 intradivisional games. Good luck down the stretch, although with your stud starting staff, I don't want to face you in the semifinals.

JKolak
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Artemus: dump Anderson, Sierra or Dunston, pick 2 of the 3. Dump Halama period and pick up Cliff Floyd. He is a natural for The Ballpark. He hits for average, power and has some speed. Those other players are OK but Cliff "Pink" Floyd rocks. I was trying to take him myself just now but can't swing the cash because I am stuck with the Pizzaman behind the plate.

JKolak
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Artemus: Your best option at 3B right now is Craig Paquette, believe it or not. Good clutch, has some power against RH and can anchor your 7 or 8 hole in the lineup.

[ArtemusRex]

ArtemusRexBlog
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Hmmm. Some good suggestions Kolak. I really appreciate it. I was looking at Cliff myself and couldnt seem to swing it either. I actually am looking to use Halama for a cheap 1 inning relief pitcher who could go into the starting lineup w/ my other lefthander S/R if needed. Of course with what you said about S not being injured for more than 3 games that my not even be a problem. But as a cheap LHRP I think he still could work.

As always I'll run my numbers and take your suggestions under advisement.

Oh, I'm copying our talks on my team and copying them to my "The Ballpark" topic since it belongs there. Otherwise we keep advertising for a full league.

[ArtemusRex]

Really had a hard time with the move you suggested Kolak and probably not for the reason you think. Floyd is everything you said he is but I had to be careful not to sell my bench, DH position, and my bullpen to get him.

The real problem came with Paquette. Since I was dropping a lefty for his righty it really messed up the L-R balance of my lineup. How I eventually fixed this is that I had to drop Santiago as a righty platoon at catcher and go with AJ fulltime. Really hard decision but with the extra righty bat at third he became expendable at the bottom of the lineup. The drop I take in AJ as a righty should be made up at the top of the lineup with Floyd.

The other problem was getting rid of Garret Anderson. Once he loses the starting left field job he just isnt cost effective to keep as he was more of a defensive guy who hit without power. The bigger problem is that losing Garret meant that I had NO ONE to back up CF. How I dealt with this is I downgraded one of my righty reliever to Mike Timlin, dropped Santiago, and picked up Kenny Loften who will now also be my lefty platoon as DH in non-HR friendly ballparks (a position given up by AJ becoming fulltime C).

I had a problem getting rid of Dunston and Sierra. Both can play many positions (more with Dunston) , take turns in the DH platoon, and be the strength of my bench. And I flirted with getting rid of Rivera but my bullpen is now weak enough. Plus his replacement (Gordon or Nenn) didn't have the Whip, ERA, or pick off move that Mariano had.

Well, I think I'm done. I think I'm now looking at possibly a 82-83 game season. Could be more but my weak bullpen will probably leave me down. Oh well, the decisions you must make. Still have to play the season.