A Tale of 2 Teams
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:03 pmI would like to share a (long) story for anyone interested in reading about 2 teams I played in this tournament, my 80s and 90s teams. Someone who is new to this game may be able to use this story to their benefit and possibly learn from the big mistake I made and possibly benefit from applying what worked for me
Lets start with the 80s team.
My 80s team did not do well at all in the beginning. If you look at my team, you will see a lot of roster moves on the offensive side. My pitching was solid all season long, and that was what was keeping me in it all season (Tom Niedenfuer 83 FTW!). Offensively I had a a good core group of players, but the supporting cast was not that good, many players were severely underperforming. Through 42 games, I was 17-25. It's way too early to just give up though, I added and dropped several players. Fast forward to game 105 where 31 wins and 32 losses later I am 48-57, and looking like it's getting close to time to throw in the towel. I'm adding and dropping cheap players at this point and any reasonably expensive options are just not possible. It's looking real bad.
Lets shift focus to my 90s team. My 90s team got off to a hot start. Pitching and hitting were clicking. Top seasons from Phil Plantier and Rickey Henderson were carrying my offense along with some other solid players. Tom Henke was struggling, but I know he'll be fine. I'm 27-18 thorough 45 games and am enjoying a nice lead in the division. After a rough stretch where I go 4-11, and find myself at 31-29 I shake things up just a little bit. Things go better and am now back up to 39-30 through 69 games and feeling real good because I have a nice lead due to the second place team being below .500.
Shifting back to the 80s; it looks like maybe some of those moves are paying off, a mediocre 7-5 stretch is a step in the right direction, but it's 117 games in, and I'm still 55-62. I need to make a move in the standings, fast. Time to make a final push.
A mediocre stretch in the 90s where I go 12-15 find me at 51-45. Well this is a real good team, just struggling. I should leave them alone, and they'll rebound and be fine. Henke is still blowing games as often as I blow my nose, but he does not have any bad cards, he'll be fine! Nomo started the season so well, he's just having a rough stretch. There are no good FA options available, every pitcher worth a shot has been tried for 1-2 games. I'll stay put.
In the 80s, 32 wins and 13 losses later, I find myself at 87-75 and having clinched a wild card spot on the last day! What a tremendous comeback!
In the 90s, in what seems like a blink of an eye, 11 wins and 31 losses later, I am now 62-76, way out of first place. At this point, why bother keeping Henke if he can't get my grandmother out. I could drop him and save a ton of money and try to upgrade in the pitching staff. What have I got to lose at this point, it's over anyway. I just dont understand why though, this team was good! Well, after that move, I went 15-9 the rest of the way, with one of the starters I picked up going 6-0 and basically dominating. 77-85 was way short of the playoffs however.
The moral of the story is that you should never give up. If you see your team struggling, it's probably for good reason. A strong start does never mean you're good to let the team run on auto-pilot. I consider myself to be a top 90s manager, this was my very first 90s team to ever finish below .500. I let my perception of what the team should be doing get the best of me and I blew it. meanwhile, I never gave up in the 80s, scratching and crawling from the bottom all season long, and make the playoffs. The icing on the cake was that it turned out to go all the way and win the title. if I could have made the necessary moves in the 90s earlier, I could have made the playoffs there and possibly made the top 12. You never know.
Thanks for reading!
Lets start with the 80s team.
My 80s team did not do well at all in the beginning. If you look at my team, you will see a lot of roster moves on the offensive side. My pitching was solid all season long, and that was what was keeping me in it all season (Tom Niedenfuer 83 FTW!). Offensively I had a a good core group of players, but the supporting cast was not that good, many players were severely underperforming. Through 42 games, I was 17-25. It's way too early to just give up though, I added and dropped several players. Fast forward to game 105 where 31 wins and 32 losses later I am 48-57, and looking like it's getting close to time to throw in the towel. I'm adding and dropping cheap players at this point and any reasonably expensive options are just not possible. It's looking real bad.
Lets shift focus to my 90s team. My 90s team got off to a hot start. Pitching and hitting were clicking. Top seasons from Phil Plantier and Rickey Henderson were carrying my offense along with some other solid players. Tom Henke was struggling, but I know he'll be fine. I'm 27-18 thorough 45 games and am enjoying a nice lead in the division. After a rough stretch where I go 4-11, and find myself at 31-29 I shake things up just a little bit. Things go better and am now back up to 39-30 through 69 games and feeling real good because I have a nice lead due to the second place team being below .500.
Shifting back to the 80s; it looks like maybe some of those moves are paying off, a mediocre 7-5 stretch is a step in the right direction, but it's 117 games in, and I'm still 55-62. I need to make a move in the standings, fast. Time to make a final push.
A mediocre stretch in the 90s where I go 12-15 find me at 51-45. Well this is a real good team, just struggling. I should leave them alone, and they'll rebound and be fine. Henke is still blowing games as often as I blow my nose, but he does not have any bad cards, he'll be fine! Nomo started the season so well, he's just having a rough stretch. There are no good FA options available, every pitcher worth a shot has been tried for 1-2 games. I'll stay put.
In the 80s, 32 wins and 13 losses later, I find myself at 87-75 and having clinched a wild card spot on the last day! What a tremendous comeback!
In the 90s, in what seems like a blink of an eye, 11 wins and 31 losses later, I am now 62-76, way out of first place. At this point, why bother keeping Henke if he can't get my grandmother out. I could drop him and save a ton of money and try to upgrade in the pitching staff. What have I got to lose at this point, it's over anyway. I just dont understand why though, this team was good! Well, after that move, I went 15-9 the rest of the way, with one of the starters I picked up going 6-0 and basically dominating. 77-85 was way short of the playoffs however.
The moral of the story is that you should never give up. If you see your team struggling, it's probably for good reason. A strong start does never mean you're good to let the team run on auto-pilot. I consider myself to be a top 90s manager, this was my very first 90s team to ever finish below .500. I let my perception of what the team should be doing get the best of me and I blew it. meanwhile, I never gave up in the 80s, scratching and crawling from the bottom all season long, and make the playoffs. The icing on the cake was that it turned out to go all the way and win the title. if I could have made the necessary moves in the 90s earlier, I could have made the playoffs there and possibly made the top 12. You never know.
Thanks for reading!
