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[jim416]

Washington Nationals

62-56, 10 games back of the first place Mets, one game behind Astros in the wildcard.

Dunn has hit 40 homeruns and struck out 108 times. Zimmerman has 25, Willingham 15, Dukes 13.

Team batting average is .270

Shairon Martis leads the team with 9 victories (5 losses)
Craig Stammen leads the team in losses with 7

[PsychoBulk]

Tigers, All Star, own sliders, playing every game.

Finally arrived at the All-Star break with a 6 game tear, and i mean tear, putting up 33 runs in a marmalisation sweep of a depleted Indians club, 12-2, 10-4 and 11-2, 8 homers, 3 triples and 11 doubles, i was seeing it like a beachball, but it just goes to show because for the two weeks previous id been struggling to put more than 2/3 runs a game on the board.

All Star came and went (AL won thankfully, be nice to have home field if i get to the WS)...

Leaves me at 53-38, 3 games back of the White Sox in my division but 3 games clear of the Rays in the wild card, cannot wait for the races to take shape in the second half of the season

[ty5oke]

Atlanta Braves - Nemesis' Sliders - Simulated about 3 weeks of August (Played every game besides that) - Did a few trades for players I like

Been in an absolute tussle with the Mets/Phillies for the NL East Division. At the beginning of September, Mets led the division by .5 over me and 3 over the Phils.

The largest lead in September was the mets up 1.5 against me. I've had 2 series late in September vs the Mets that have been pressure packed games. Last series I had with them, I blew a late lead in the 8th for one game and came back the next day to hand K-Rod a BS and loss with 2-out heroics. Also had "King" Felix matchup with Johan 2 games that were awesome pitching duels.

Standings W/ 2 series remaining:
Braves 84-71
Mets 84-72
Phils 78-77

Braves: 3 vs Marlins, 4 vs Nats
Mets: 3 @ Nats, 3 vs Astros

Some key stats:
2nd Team BA : .289 (Yanks lead with a .297)
T-26th in HR: 119 (Cards lead with 236)
23rd in ERA: 4.25 (Cubs lead with 3.41)
B-Mac leads the league with a .333 Avg (19 HR 82 RBI)
Chipper: .316 26 HR 92 RBI
Chris B. Young: .323 34 2B 19 HR 88 RBI 29 SB (Monster Year)
Wainwright: 15-9 3.64 ERA
Ryan Rowland-Smith: 12-6 3.64 ERA (Surprise 5th starter)
Hanson: 10-7 3.94 ERA
JJ and Felix both struggling this year: 5.30 and 4.28 ERA's although Felix has stepped up in SEP.
Moylan: 2.79 ERA in 62 APP
Morrow: 3.19 ERA W/ 46 SV

Will update after season finishes (hopefully I can hold off the Mets).

[zippy2212]

Chicago Cubs - Veteran Level, Custom sliders.

Cardinals are leading the Central at 63-43. I'm currently 2nd at 60-42, 2 games back.

Offensive Leaders
Soto - .348, 13 HR's, 48 RBI's, .388 OBP
Ramirez - .323, 20 HR's, 66 RBI's, .364 OBP
Bradley - .296, 17 HR's, 52 RBI's, .360 OBP

Pitching Leaders
Lilly - 12-3, 3.54 ERA, 96K's
Big Z - 10-6, 3.46 ERA, 130K's in 135.1 Innings
Dempster 10-9 3.05 ERA, 2 Shut outs, 105K's
Gregg 25-27 in Save opportunities

Lowlights
Soriano - .222 average, 9 HR's 28 RBI's
Wells - 2-3, 6.45 ERA, 12K's in 10 gms, 5 starts

[CubFan23]

Chicago Cubs Franchise Veteran level with Ridins Rosters and custom sliders

Just finished season 1, play all games. Won the central but got eliminated by the Mets in the NLDS 3-1

Standings
Cubs........94-68
St.Louis....92-70-2 GB...wildcard
Houston....82-80-12 GB
Milwaukee.81-81-13 GB
Cincinnati..77-85-17 GB
Pittsburgh..60-102-34GB

Mets NL East Champs 93-69
Dodgers NL West Champs 101-61
St.Louis NL Wildcard winner

Boston AL East Champs 98-64
Minnesota AL Central Champs 100-62
Anaheim AL West Champs 85-77
New York AL Wildcard winner 91-71

Cardinals ended up in the World Series against the Yankees and lost in 7.

Player stats
Soriano............33-HR...107-RBI....314-AVG ( 30/30 year)
Bradley............24-HR....86-RBI.....330-AVG
Lee.................17-HR....63-RBI.....274-AVG ( missed 2 months)
Ramirez...........23-HR....74-RBI.....326-AVG (missed 2 months)
Soto................26-HR....86-RBI.....343-AVG

Zambrano.....17-8....199k's....3.20 era
Harden.........15-8....202k's....2.86 era
Dempster.....13-9....170k's....3.08 era
Gregg..........4-2......51/55 saves...1.61 era

Going to start 1st offseason soon

[mer1in20]

Right now, I am in an all out brawl with the Rays and the Yanks in my Franchise. I am .5 games out of the Rays and the Yanks are 2.5 games out. The lead keeps changing every other game with me (Red Sox) and the Rays. I am batting .278 as a team. Bay is tearing the cover off the ball. He has 31 homers as of August 16th.

[ty5oke]

Quote: Originally Posted by ty5oke

Atlanta Braves - Nemesis' Sliders - Standings W/ 2 series remaining: Braves 84-71 Mets 84-72 Phils 78-77 Braves: 3 vs Marlins, 4 vs Nats Mets: 3 @ Nats, 3 vs Astros

Just finished the season and I thought I would recap as it went down to the wire.

I sweep the Marlins as the Mets sweep the Nats. I win the first game of the Nats series as the Mets had the day off and I go to a full game up on them. I win the next 2 games of the series and of course the Mets do the same. An absolute blast to be scoreboard watching and feel devastating when I watch the Mets come back from a 3 run lead in the 7th to take the lead and win in their 2nd game of the series.

So, it comes down to 1 game. I win and I'm in, lose and possible play-off game. I have JJ (8-13 5.30 ERA) going for me against Scott Olson (7-16). First inning, Ryan Zimmerman touches me up for a deep one and go down 0-1. Meanwhile, Mr.Olson is keeping my hot bats in check with no hits through the first 3 2/3. Finally get a hit with Chipper but nothing to make of it. Both pitchers match zeroes until the 6th inning (meanwhile I'm checking the scoreboard every inning and the mets just score 2 in the bottom of 5th, they're down 4-2). Nats load the basses with no-outs and hit a fly-ball down the right field line. Frenchy strolls over for the catch, runner tags up, gunned out at the plate. They follow with a 2-out double but only manage 1 run in the inning.

Bottom of the 6th and my bats come alive. String together a bunch of singles together and a timely 2-run PH single by MattyD to score 8 runs in the inning (even better the Astros put up 6 more runs on the Mets). Nats score 3 in the 8th, but no real threat as I come away with the victory 10-5 and secure a play-off spot on the last day of the season.

I figured the Mets were going to collapse for me, but they didn't. Before they lost their last game they had won 6 in a row. I had a season-high 10 game winning streak to end the season (got a silver trophy!!), I think my longest streak before that was maybe 4 or 5 games.

Key Stats:
B-Mac wins batting crown with .341 Avg.
NL MVP - Berkman .324 45 HR 116 RBI
AL MVP - A-Rod .338 51 HR 150 RBI
NL Cy - Carpenter 2.88 ERA 20-7
AL Cy - Sabathia 2.94 ERA 19-3

Play-offs-
Bos vs Cle, Tex vs NYY, CHC vs ATL, LAD vs STL

[BigWilly]

The Cubs win the World Series!

In my third trip to the playoffs (including one playoff run to the ALCS losing Game 6 to the Angels in '08), and NLDS first round exit via sweep to the Braves, I finally made some noise.

I pounded the Phillies in the NLDS by scores of 11-2, 1-2, 10-6, and 12-7, hitting a monster 9 home runs in the process of putting up the 33 runs. I batted .364 for the series, and had a .599 Slugging Percentage as a team. It's easily my best ever offensive performance for a 4 game series - lucky for me it came in the playoffs.

In the NLCS, I face off against the D-Backs who beat the Mets 3-2 in games. The D-Backs were bound to be a tougher test than the Phils, who I won all 6 regular season games against. The D-Backs, on the other hand took 3 of 6 off of me in the regular season, all closely contested games. The D-Backs won the series opener in Chicago 2-1 despite only getting 3 hits (tough loss for Dempster!). My Cubs battled back to win Games 2 and 3 by scores of 4-1 in both games. Despite posting a better road record than home during the regular season, I dropped Games 4 and 5 to the D-Backs by scores of 6-4 and 3-2, before rebounding in a pivotal Game 6 against Brandon Webb for a 7-5 victory to force a Game 7. I thought I was done as Webb really caused me to struggle in Game 1 of the series. In Game 7, I hit them early and raced out to a large lead, and held on to take the game 8-5 and the series.

The NLCS was absolutely intense! Virtually every game was down to the wire. Even the 8-5 Game 7 victory ended on a double play after the D-Backs brought the tying run to the plate.

In the World Series, I was facing Tampa Bay and had no idea what to expect having never faced them in '09. In Game 1, Rich Harden pitches an absolute gem, and I win 3-0 on a 3 hit shutout. Game 2 I take 7-3, in another gem that was tarnished somewhat in the top of the 9th by a 2 run shot by Carl Crawford.

The series moves to Tampa for Game 3, and the Rays hit 4 jacks off of me. Dempster, down 7-1 in the 3rd inning is pulled. I stage a furious rally down 9-2, but proceed to lose the game 10-7. Series lead is trimmed to 2-1. Game 4 I dominate, winning 11-2 and built a commanding lead. Game 5, down 3-1 in the 7th, Carlos Zambrano hits a triple (he's the slowest guy on my team!) that drives in 2 and ties the game. The game goes to extras, with both bullpens fatigued (4th game in 4 calendar days), and Mike Fontenot hits a double followed by a sac fly and I take a 5-3 lead. Tampa goes down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th, and the Cubs win the World Series!

Aramis Ramirez was the playoff MVP (.400 BA, 6 HR, 19 RBIs), as well as World Series MVP (.455 BA, 3 HR, 7 RBIs).

Overall, my team Batting Average in the playoffs was much better than my regular season average (.334 vs .293). And my ERA was a little lower. This time around, the playoffs seem to have brought out my best whereas the first two trips to October flamed out. Philly and TB just had no answers for my offense. The D-Backs played a hell of a series and pushed me to the brink after 5 games, but they just couldn't come up with enough offense to seal the deal (.259 BA and perhaps most telling, only 3 HRs in 7 games).

The celebration for winning the World Series was pretty weak, unfortunately, but at that point it isn't like I really cared

[slickdtc]

I've got three franchises going, one each with the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, and Colorado Rockies/Los Angeles Dodgers. But right now, I'm playing with my fantasy drafted KC Royals.

I believe it's June 22nd, 2009. I'm in the middle of a game, tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 3rd with 2 out against the Houston Astros at Houston, so no DH for my team. But anyway, here's the lineup:

STARTING LINEUP
SS Orlando Cabrera
2B Robinson Cano
3B Evan Longoria
1B Jim Thome
CF Mike Cameron
LF Conor Jackson
RF Ken Griffey Jr. (usually Cody Ross, Griff is usually the DH against lefties)
C Dioner Navarro
P Cole Hamels

BENCH
RF Cody Ross (usual starter in RF)
C Chris Coste
1B Jason Giambi (usual DH v. RHP)
SS Omar Vizquel
LF Colby Rasmus

STARTING ROTATION
LHP Cole Hamels
RHP Chris Young
RHP Tommy Hanson
LHP Randy Johnson
LHP Zach Duke

BULLPEN
LRP Jamie Moyer
MRP Tony Pena (used to be my SU but he's struggled)
MRP Scott Schoenweis
MRP Alan Embree (used to be my SU but he's struggled too)
SU Joel Zumaya (used to be my CP but he's struggled)
SU Todd Coffey (used to be my MRP, sub 1.00 ERA)
CP Jon Rauch (used to be my MRP, 2.84 ERA really just closer by committee with Coffey)

I love my team, man. Some guys have struggled, others have blossomed. Speaking of which, my batting averages are insane. I know why too. The Cincinnati Reds (one of my other franchise teams, as previously mentioned) aren't as talented as this team is so I had to make up for that with tweaks to the sliders. But I guess I carried them over to this franchise. Now that I've gotten a few months in, I kind of want to see where it ends up.

7 of my regular starters are batting over .300 and I'm batting I believe .310 as a team. But Cano leads the way with a .371 batting average. But that's gone down. Ross, Cameron, and Cano have all had batting averages near .400 at some point though they've all cooled off since then. I think they may tamper off collectively but I think it'll still be a great year for most of the guys. Speaking of which, Jim Thome is raking and a top MVP candidate early on: .332 batting average 22 HR, 57 RBI, 47 R. Hamels came off a little DL time early (first start he got hurt early in) but is 7-2 with a 2.77 ERA. Been ridiculous since May. My other starters got ERA's in the 4's except Johnson at 3.70. Zumaya has 15 saves but a 5.97 ERA and I can't seem to not walk a few and give up a few hits and runs every time out with him. I just demoted him about 2 games ago but now Rauch and Coffey are giving up the runs while the setup men and middle relief is solid.

It's been crazy so far with the team. I'm not even big on drafts. But I'm liking my team, it seems to be a pretty damn good mixture of youth and veteran leadership. I think I got some guys who are a little too old, but then I have guys who are pretty damn young (Rasmus, Hanson) so it balances out. I really am planning this team for now and for the future... I plan on playing MLB 09: The Show for a longggg time.

That's it for now... Maybe next time I'll post a Cincinnati Reds update. We'll see.

[ty5oke]

Quote: Originally Posted by BigWilly

The Cubs win the World Series! In my third trip to the playoffs (including one playoff run to the ALCS losing Game 6 to the Angels in '08), and NLDS first round exit via sweep to the Braves, I finally made some noise. I pounded the Phillies in the NLDS by scores of 11-2, 1-2, 10-6, and 12-7, hitting a monster 9 home runs in the process of putting up the 33 runs. I batted .364 for the series, and had a .599 Slugging Percentage as a team. It's easily my best ever offensive performance for a 4 game series - lucky for me it came in the playoffs. In the NLCS, I face off against the D-Backs who beat the Mets 3-2 in games. The D-Backs were bound to be a tougher test than the Phils, who I won all 6 regular season games against. The D-Backs, on the other hand took 3 of 6 off of me in the regular season, all closely contested games. The D-Backs won the series opener in Chicago 2-1 despite only getting 3 hits (tough loss for Dempster!). My Cubs battled back to win Games 2 and 3 by scores of 4-1 in both games. Despite posting a better road record than home during the regular season, I dropped Games 4 and 5 to the D-Backs by scores of 6-4 and 3-2, before rebounding in a pivotal Game 6 against Brandon Webb for a 7-5 victory to force a Game 7. I thought I was done as Webb really caused me to struggle in Game 1 of the series. In Game 7, I hit them early and raced out to a large lead, and held on to take the game 8-5 and the series. The NLCS was absolutely intense! Virtually every game was down to the wire. Even the 8-5 Game 7 victory ended on a double play after the D-Backs brought the tying run to the plate. In the World Series, I was facing Tampa Bay and had no idea what to expect having never faced them in '09. In Game 1, Rich Harden pitches an absolute gem, and I win 3-0 on a 3 hit shutout. Game 2 I take 7-3, in another gem that was tarnished somewhat in the top of the 9th by a 2 run shot by Carl Crawford. The series moves to Tampa for Game 3, and the Rays hit 4 jacks off of me. Dempster, down 7-1 in the 3rd inning is pulled. I stage a furious rally down 9-2, but proceed to lose the game 10-7. Series lead is trimmed to 2-1. Game 4 I dominate, winning 11-2 and built a commanding lead. Game 5, down 3-1 in the 7th, Carlos Zambrano hits a triple (he's the slowest guy on my team!) that drives in 2 and ties the game. The game goes to extras, with both bullpens fatigued (4th game in 4 calendar days), and Mike Fontenot hits a double followed by a sac fly and I take a 5-3 lead. Tampa goes down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th, and the Cubs win the World Series! Aramis Ramirez was the playoff MVP (.400 BA, 6 HR, 19 RBIs), as well as World Series MVP (.455 BA, 3 HR, 7 RBIs). Overall, my team Batting Average in the playoffs was much better than my regular season average (.334 vs .293). And my ERA was a little lower. This time around, the playoffs seem to have brought out my best whereas the first two trips to October flamed out. Philly and TB just had no answers for my offense. The D-Backs played a hell of a series and pushed me to the brink after 5 games, but they just couldn't come up with enough offense to seal the deal (.259 BA and perhaps most telling, only 3 HRs in 7 games). The celebration for winning the World Series was pretty weak, unfortunately, but at that point it isn't like I really cared

Great playoffs for Ramirez and even better WS (3 HR's in 5 games). Congrats on the WS!!