MLB The Show 20
MLB The Show 20: The Strat-O-Matic '80s Roster From htskr21
While franchise mode carryover saves will be going bye-bye for this first PS5 version of MLB The Show 21, the hope is the roster vault and such will live on and continue to carry on into the next-gen games. If the roster vault gets reset, then there are going to be folks who will stick with the PS4 version of The Show because the amount of community creations that are still uncovered here is insane. One roster that was brought to my attention a little over a month ago was the Strat-O-Matic ’80s roster from htskr21.
Strat-O-Matic ’80s Roster
How To Download
Roster Information
From here, I hand it off to JoshC1977, another longtime, invaluable member of the OS community. He considers this roster a hidden gem as it sort of slid under the radar due to all the great rosters that were made this year. The roster is good for both fantasy drafts or just picking your favorite team and going for it.
The roster is the Strat-O-Matic ’80s roster by htskr21.
This roster is a historical fictional league encompassing players of various ages throughout the 1980s. So you will see older vets from the ’70s (who played in the early ’80s) — like players from the Big Red Machine, to younger players who debuted later in the decade. Using my Reds as an example, you have Joe Morgan/Tony Perez/Pete Rose paired up with the Nasty Boys. It creates a fantastic vibe of “what ifs” throughout the league. Ratings are done in a manner that reflects the player at the selected age, so a 37-year-old Joe Morgan will be rated based on his age 37 season and not his prime era.
It is a full minors roster comprised of players/prospects throughout the 1980s. You will see a whole slew of incredibly marginal players that barely sniffed The Show complementing those well-known names. For those of us who grew up in this era, there are a lot of “I totally forgot about this guy” moments that add an incredible sense of nostalgia. We all remember Eric Davis, but how many of you remember Glenn Sutko?
Folks might say, “this sounds a lot like the Longballs and Legends V1 roster.” Conceptually, it is similar. However, the core of that roster was based around the 1987 season with a smattering of other guys. This Strat-O-Matic roster is an entirely new creation not built around one particular season but rather a crafted roster.
Here are some other positives of this roster set:
Franchise Stability
To me, the biggest draw of this roster is franchise stability. If you take a look at this roster, you’ll see tons of C and D potential players with a relatively small number of really high-end players. This is fantastic, and reminiscent of Bacon’s Fictional Roster, because it allows the franchise mode to properly cycle players through systems. We’ve all seen this before: You go into the next season and there are guys with OVRs in the high 80s left unsigned or 80 OVR prospects stuck in the minors because there is “no room for them” on the 40-man. Not with this roster.
Because of the realistic potentials, you see far fewer issues with prospect progression, high-end FAs left unsigned after an offseason, or many other issues that plague many other rosters. With the lower potentials across the board, players cycle through more realistically, giving the mode a depth and feel that is beautifully done.
The Little Surprises
Another thing this roster does well is it gives you little surprises with where players are assigned. Some guys are assigned to teams where they made “their mark” and not necessarily the team they played for in the 1980s. Examples of this are Roberto Alomar in Toronto or Omar Vizquel in Cleveland — in real life they were with San Diego and Seattle, respectively. This aspect helps out with balancing and makes each team feel a bit more unique rather than just a re-hash of history.
Player Ratings And Team Identities Stand Out
It’s a roster that doesn’t feel like a league of Diamond Dynasty teams, but rather a real league with real systems. Player ratings are done beautifully, muted across the board, which allows every player to feel a bit flawed. It adds greatly to the realism of the sport — a sport where anything and everything can happen. Games have a definite 1980s vibe to them. In other words, an era where you had to balance “little ball” with mashing taters.
Because of how well the ratings are done, teams feel a lot like their real-life counterparts stylistically. The Cardinals will steal a lot of bases (as they did in the Herzog era), and Oakland feels like a powerhouse.
In short, this roster is a gem. If you want a roster comprised of just “big names,” then it may not be your cup of tea. However, if you’re looking for a more nuanced approach to a historical fictional roster that you can play in franchise for several seasons, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Again, thanks to JoshC for the great write-up, and all the appreciation in the world to htskr21 for the creation. If you want to comment on this roster or just stop by and say thanks, head on over to the thread on our forums. If you want to scope out other rosters from the OS faithful, Armor and Sword does a great job keeping a tally of all the rosters in this thread.

IMO these are perfect for a fantasy draft league with a true 80’s theme.
IMO these are perfect for a fantasy draft league with a true 80’s theme.
Really Awesome work, I plan to do a rtts with these, and a regular franchise. Thank you again
IMO these are perfect for a fantasy draft league with a true 80’s theme.
Thank-you very much. High praise from you guys. You made my day.:smile:
Thank you for the kind words.:smile:
I love my team. What is so awesome is how balanced this roster is. It is not some superstar 99’s all over the place set. It is a true 80’s set that has young guys, deep sleepers, stars, aging 70’s guys on their last legs, average players. There are so many ways you can go about building your team.
The draft was incredibly fun, hard and kept me fully engaged in building my team.
I will post my 26 man roster here and list all my key minor leaguers.
If your looking for a unique historical full minors 1980’s roster to do a “what if” you were the GM and draft your own team......
This is the ideal roster to do it with.
Again thank you so much for this gem.
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Curious on the Strat-O-Matic reference. I am a Huge Strat-O-Matic fanatic and have been since I first purchased their game in '63 only the 2nd year of Strats' history. I actually have a Collectors' copy of their original issued game from '62.
Even brought the game with me Overseas in '70 while serving in the Marine Corps and introduced it to many of my fellow Marines during my tour ...... talk about some 'ruff games experienced during that time with a bunch of rowdy Jarheads !
Again, Thanks for this GREAT Roster Set !
Don
1B Don Mattingly
2B Harold Reynolds
3B Ken Oberkfell
SS Garry Templeton
LF Bo Jackson
CF Vince Coleman
RF Darrryl Strawberry
C Don Slaught
DH Jerry Mumphrey
Bench
C Brian Dorsett
SS/UT Dale Sveum
2B Billy Ripkin
LF Gary Roenicke
SP Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn
SP Bruce Hurst
SP Tim Leary
SP Walt Terrell
SP Andy Hawkins
LRP Alejandro Pena
MRP Jeff Montgomery
MRP Randy Niemann
MRP Don Gordon
MRP Jay Baller
SU/CP Norm Charlton
SU/CP Randy Myers
CP Rollie Fingers
Key Minor Leaguers
SP Kevn Tapani
SP Scott Erickson
SP Fredric Jones
SP Joaquin Mantle
SP Andy Ashby
SP Andy Hollins
1B Kevin Mass
SS Tim Naehring
I can win now. No doubt. Starting pitching is good with two top starters in Vaughn and Hurst and solid 3-4-5. Bullpen has 2/3 of the Nasty Boys and they are indeed nasty, plus a swan song for Rollie Fingers (38)
I need to draft well though to stock up the minor leagues over the next 2-3 years. I missed on some great prospects as the CPU is great at drafting and snaking young talent now in Fantay draft franchises. In fact they are excellent drafters and the logic was really tuned up well for 20.
Going to have a blast with this franchise. I plan on playing this for many seasons. Every pitch, every inning.
1980’s baseball......what is not to love.
Maybe a 1990’s Strat-O Matic in the future??? LOL!!!!
I've been dying to do a fantasy draft and this roster was ideal for it. First off, I LOVE the work you did with the base teams. Really nice balance. But I just needed something totally 'fantasy'.
Went for a change of pace and went with an AL team (the O's). Drafted in the 27th slot, so it was tough. Still came away with a terrific roster:
SP - Nolan Ryan
SP - Fernando Valenzuela
SP - Charlie Hough
SP - Mike Flanagan
SP - Tommy John
LRP - Vida Blue
MRP - Bobby Cuellar
MRP - Bob McClure
MRP - Dan Quisenberry
SU - Jesse Orosco
SU - Gene Nelson
CP - Steve Bedrosian
C - Ernie Whitt and Steve Lake (Platoon)
1B - Cecil Cooper
2B - Harold Reynolds
3B - Ron Cey
SS - Garry Templeton
LF - Mel Hall
CF - Brett Butler
RF - Darryl Strawberry
DH - Hal McRae
Bench
Steve Lake
Jorge Orta
Nick Esasky
Rudy Law
Dale Sveum
Mike Pagliarulo (AAA)
John Lowenstein (AAA)
Terry McGriff (AAA)
Notable Prospects
Tom Glavine
Jeff Montgomery
Chris Hoiles
Dude, thank you so much for sharing - fantastic job here!
Going with the “Grey Beard” pitching staff I see! Ryan is a beast no matter what age!
I was fortunate to get the #3 overall spot.
But even so every time I was going to take a Glavine, Smoltz, Finely, Appier, McDonald etc the CPU would snake me every single time for a 18,19 year old prospect.
They really did a great under the hood tune up for fantasy draft franchises on 20.
But you would never know that reading the main forum.
See on Twitch!! I already streamed my first two games vs the White Sox.
Good luck in year 1.
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Dave Stieb
Vida Blue
Mike Krukow
Jose Rijo
Pete Vuckovich
Tommy John
CL
Darius Light
C
Joe Oliver/ Mickey Tettleton
1B
John Mayberry/ Steve Balboni
2B
Joe Morgan
3B
Ernest Riles
SS
Alfredo Griffin
LF
Ron Gant/Derek Bell
CF
Eric Davis
RF
Dave Martinez
Bench: Amos Otis, Ken Griffey Sr., Duane Kuiper, Jake Taylor
Prospects: Jose Vizcaino, Al Martin, Brian McCrae, Tim Wakefield, GlenAllen Hill.
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I drafted the first 60 rounds manually before simming the final 30. It was incredibly challenging and fun. I made picks with some position battles planned which also should give me good depth as those battles are hashed out for 1B, C and LF. Oliver and Tettleton were the main considerations for C both at 24 years old with Oliver more advanced but Tettleton has a higher ceiling. Then Jake Taylor of Major League fame kept hanging around the draft board and we took a flier on the well-rated 38 year old in the mid rounds.
Tettleton may also get a look at 1B where the extremely powerful Balboni will get the first shot. But Balboni is one-dimensional and Mayberry plays good defense while also having an average bat for a corner infielder.
I'd prefer Ron Gant take the LF job and let Derek Bell develop in the minors but Ken Griffey Sr. , Amos Otis and Bake McBride may have something left in the tank and could win the job. Either way I'm looking for some power and speed here. I can also see a scenario where Gant plays 3B and Riles becomes a UT guy.
I'm also exploring the trade market and have a keen interest in Deion Sanders along with a few others.
Anyways if you made it through this long-winded post you may be able to tell I'm excited.
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Looks like a fictional deep sleeper!!
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The most interesting part is noticing how the game has evolved. For example: Pete Vuckovich won a Cy Young for going 18-6 with a 3.34. Not bad you say, right? Get this in 223 IP he struck out a paltry 105 and walked a whopping 102! His Whip was over 1.5. I'm baffled he managed to go 18-6 let alone win the Cy based on what we know today. But how cool is that? Also my man Vida Blue pitched 312 innings in his age 21 season and was good for 260-290 every year! Crazy stuff. I love this great game and this roster keeps getting better the more I dig into it. The layers of immersion just keep building.
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There are many more like this which just makes this roster stand out.
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Curious on the Strat-O-Matic reference. I am a Huge Strat-O-Matic fanatic...
Again, Thanks for this GREAT Roster Set !
Don
interested in hearing the connection as well
Also the established veterans in this roster have a potential rating given that fairly and accurately reflects their career production. This too is exceptional. This makes the older guys play at a believable level of simulation and balances the league really well.
I also see the lack of depth in pitching staffs accurately reflected as was true for that time period. To get a guy who is rated in the 70's to fill out bullpen spots is a challenge and a treat to have him! Also most of the 70's guys are vets in their 30's with lots of big league experience just like back in that day! It is very hard and rare to find young arms with high ratings as the old-school philosophy was to go with experience. This absolutely makes the roster play to it's time period.
I am 7 games into Spring Training and beyond thrilled with the playability and immersion of this roster.
I noticed Reggie Sanders is missing. Only because he's another favorite of mine who was in the Red's system in '88. So I added him. To my team of course. But by no means is this a complaint because this roster shows painstaking attention to detail throughout. Love it.
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Curious on the Strat-O-Matic reference. I am a Huge Strat-O-Matic fanatic and have been since I first purchased their game in '63 only the 2nd year of Strats' history. I actually have a Collectors' copy of their original issued game from '62.
Even brought the game with me Overseas in '70 while serving in the Marine Corps and introduced it to many of my fellow Marines during my tour ...... talk about some 'ruff games experienced during that time with a bunch of rowdy Jarheads !
Again, Thanks for this GREAT Roster Set !
Don
Wow. You guys are fantastic. Thank you so much for the praise. I enjoyed making it. I played Strat growing up after ordering the 1985 season/board game when I was 15 years old. I played some with friends but probably ten times as many games by myself. I bet it was a blast to play with those guys.
Thanks for your service and again for the kind words.
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He was just a guy in the roster I originally used as a base months ago.
(Or, he's a little known, scrappy, all heart pitcher from an Independent league up North. Undrafted, he was a walk-on at camp and through sheer force of will and a bulldog mentality, made the team.) The rest is history for you to play...:)
Funny you mention 1985. I grew up playing more Statis Pro. Have the 1986 and 1987 set.
I got into Strat around 1989 and 1990. Was in a league. Was awesome.
This roster is a diamond man.
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Funny you mention 1985. I grew up playing more Statis Pro. Have the 1986 and 1987 set.
I got into Strat around 1989 and 1990. Was in a league. Was awesome.
This roster is a diamond man.
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I took the Yankees and am in year 2. I haven't played my current Brewers franchise in a couple of months.
(Missed the playoffs but was offered Tim Leary from the Dodgers and signed Ed Whitson as a free agent to shore up that team's biggest weakness in my roster. Re-signed 39 year old Reggie Jackson and Steve Balboni as a free agent to split DH duties but Jackson went down for 6+ months with a hamstring. Balboni carried the team at the beginning before cooling off. I think he hit 12 home runs through May or something. Rasmussen and Guidry are leading the staff and Winfield has been a monster. 49-26 right now.)
(Missed the playoffs but was offered Tim Leary from the Dodgers and signed Ed Whitson as a free agent to shore up that team's biggest weakness in my roster. Re-signed 39 year old Reggie Jackson and Steve Balboni as a free agent to split DH duties but Jackson went down for 6+ months with a hamstring. Balboni carried the team at the beginning before cooling off. I think he hit 12 home runs through May or something. Rasmussen and Guidry are leading the staff and Winfield has been a monster. 49-26 right now.)
You absolutely should try a fantasy draft eventually with this work of art man!
Can’t thank you enough.
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(Or, he's a little known, scrappy, all heart pitcher from an Independent league up North. Undrafted, he was a walk-on at camp and through sheer force of will and a bulldog mentality, made the team.) The rest is history for you to play...:)
Some very interesting storylines unfolded during Spring Training.
Ron Washington was drafted late to compete with Skeeter Barnes and Duane Kuiper for a bench job. At the same time the Braves new front office sought to bring in their own manager and fired Brian Snitker. It became clear that the 35 year old Washington had a clubhouse leadership presence that both coaches and players responded to. In true retro roster fashion Wash was hired to be maybe the last of a dying breed: the player/manager. His teammates loved the move. Wash acquitted himself well and hit over .300 on the spring while playing capable defense to win the backup infield job. Barnes was waived and Kuiper demoted. We have ourselves a player/manager!
The story of Darius Light and his reemergence as a big leaguer is just as interesting. How do you explain a relief pitcher with 99 stamina who throws 97 and mixes in a 66 mph knuckler?
He came up as a young power pitcher who threw out his shoulder before age 30. He reinvented himself as a knuckle baller in the independent league. As time passed his shoulder started feeling better. In a bullpen he let loose and touched 97 again. His manager didn't like the idea of Light throwing 100 plus pitches with his violent delivery and reclaimed velocity. So he talked him into a relief role where he could let it all hang out for 10-15 pitches and rest a day or two. Light took to it and scouts came to see if it was real. It was. The Braves took a chance on the 33 year old and installed him as their closer. Now armed with 97 mph heat and a knuckle ball he struck out 13 batters in 9 spring innings to win the job earning the obvious nickname "Light's Out." He saved the first two victories on the season striking out 5 in 2 IP.
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Lead off hitter Vince Coleman is already tearing up the base paths and giving opposing catchers fits!. 1st round draft pick Donny “Baseball” Mattingly is already showing why he was the franchises first pick. Daryl Strawberry is also showing how dominant he can be at the plate. Veteran DH/OF Jerry Mumphry is showing he still has what it takes to hit big league pitching.
Speaking of pitching the Royals took a huge chance drafting ex-convict Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn. And he is quickly establishing himself as the #1 Ace of this staff. Lefty Norm Charlton is now the team closer and looks incredibly good to go along with Randy Meyers and Jeff Montgomery. And of course old timer Rollie Fingers still showing he can ball.
SS Garry Templeton has been solid as well.
Bo Jackson is looking to get going and he started to in his last game vs the Tigers. Harold Reynolds and Billy Ripkin may be in an early season platoon at 2B.
Dale Sveum hit a pinch hit grand slam vs the Tigers as well. His power vs LHP’s is devastating and he isa johnny on the spot type of player like Billy Ripkin. 3B Ken Oberkfel has been a pleasant surprise offensively.
So much fun.
Funny you mention 1985. I grew up playing more Statis Pro. Have the 1986 and 1987 set.
I got into Strat around 1989 and 1990. Was in a league. Was awesome.
This roster is a diamond man.
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I was a Statis Pro guy as well. Hours of fun
https://boardgamegeek.com/image/15630/statis-pro-baseball
I’m going to do a fantasy draft and pick a random team.
Oh, and the players like Ricky Vaughn, Willie Mays Hayes, Pedro Cerrano, etc. - FRICKIN AWESOME. I may just have to do the Indians, and make sure to grab a few of those guys. Thanks for doing this.
I’m going to do a fantasy draft and pick a random team.
Oh, and the players like Ricky Vaughn, Willie Mays, Hayes, Pedro Cerrano, etc. - FRICKIN AWESOME. I may just have to do the Indians, and make sure to grab a few of those guys. Thanks for doing this.
I can't take credit for the movie guys and I'm not that good with faces. The movie guys and many of the players were imports from other rosters/creators. I did all of the editing, moving, aging, service time adjustments, skin tones and final balancing for any player with a "C" or above potential or having been a big leaguer at some point. I tried to keep the 80's in mind when constructing the teams, so their weaknesses/strengths matched up with the kind of teams they had in that decade. (Yankees had poor starting pitching except Guidry and every past his prime veteran that ever lived. Randolph was as solid as they come and obviously Mattingly and Winfield. Pretty thin everywhere else, unless you moved Rickey over there. Man, did I want to!):D
Your roster is excellent. You can at least take credit for that. It's one of the best custom rosters out there. The only other one that I love outside of Ridin 2.5, is Armor's 1992 roster.
I'm going to do a fantasy draft with yours, and have some fun.
I'm going to do a fantasy draft with yours, and have some fun.
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I'm going to do a fantasy draft with yours, and have some fun.
I helped a little. Trav-Diddy did all the heavy lifting on that 1992 Roster. But I am glad you really enjoy that.
This roster is simply awesome and built for a fantasy draft universe in the 1980’s era of baseball.
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Of course. If I didn't want to share, I wouldn't have posted it.;)
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For starters I don't have the same trade capital I'd have in an SDS roster where I could easily acquire an embarrassment of riches. This makes trades or potential trades require some serious research, negotiation and it really will cost you as a GM if you want to go get someone. Just how it should be.
Second I've come to realize our C potential guys and prospects are incredibly valuable. In an SDS roster they are basically throw-away players when one can acquire an entire team of A and B guys. I completely agree with the sentiment that most all big leaguers are in the C level and the game will play so much better this way.
The main takeaway here is this roster just keeps revealing it's excellence the more I dig into it. It is great fun!
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In the middle of a draft, I think I just spotted what must be a typo. SP Dave Stewart (age 31) has a stamina rating of 37. Stewart led the league in both innings pitched & complete games in his age 31 & age 33 seasons. And he threw 257.2 innings at age 32. So that stamina rating doesn't make any sense. Any idea what it should be?
In the middle of a draft, I think I just spotted what must be a typo. SP Dave Stewart (age 31) has a stamina rating of 37. Stewart led the league in both innings pitched & complete games in his age 31 & age 33 seasons. And he threw 257.2 innings at age 32. So that stamina rating doesn't make any sense. Any idea what it should be?
I caught that too. I edited Stewart to a stamina rating of 88. He was a freaking horse.
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That's exactly what I did! You figured it out! (Ignore the age I made him, that was a typo.)
Kidding. Obviously I missed the stamina correction for his version in the vault.
I've made so many corrections and adjustments during my time with this in franchise that I wish I could upload the roster again...
Kidding. Obviously I missed the stamina correction for his version in the vault.
I've made so many corrections and adjustments during my time with this in franchise that I wish I could upload the roster again...
Anyhow I've got one spring training game to play tonight then I can finally get going on this outstanding franchise roster.
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Kidding. Obviously I missed the stamina correction for his version in the vault.
I've made so many corrections and adjustments during my time with this in franchise that I wish I could upload the roster again...
If you remember any significant or noteworthy changes, I certainly wouldn't object to seeing a v2 of this roster in the vault! :D
While (like Armor mentioned) the CPU drafting logic is surprisingly good at selecting young stars, after all these years you'd think they'd allow you to choose 30 team control while only drafting for one team. I'm not going to draft for all 30 so I'll have to go with single-team control -- unfortunately the "recommended pick" definitely doesn't give the same results as when the CPU actually makes the selection.
Fantasy draft ready.
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This is my club. 11th pick
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSdOnP57oG0iXBfPf2QqinJj09srdrpcD2H-YOaHvPCIwkgARMNOuCsUBg9DLmmNazFhbwJBM1O5la4/pub
This is my club. 11th pick
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSdOnP57oG0iXBfPf2QqinJj09srdrpcD2H-YOaHvPCIwkgARMNOuCsUBg9DLmmNazFhbwJBM1O5la4/pub
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This is my club. 11th pick
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSdOnP57oG0iXBfPf2QqinJj09srdrpcD2H-YOaHvPCIwkgARMNOuCsUBg9DLmmNazFhbwJBM1O5la4/pub
You are most welcome. I'm overwhelmed by the response. :grin:
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Dennis Lamp is no.1: as soon as he delivered the first pitch I knew I had no chance. He is the Rays closer in my universe. He is both funky and nasty and is an incredibly uncomfortable AB. I am 0-6 with 5 k's against him.
Charlie Hough: shut me out allowing 3 hits with the knuckler running 65-71 mph its basically two different pitches and he threw it for strikes 90% of the time then cunningly dotted me up with about 10 fastballs which at 90 mph devastated me, every one.
Roger Clemens: no surprise here and his forkball is almost indistinguishable from his fastball.
Lee Smith: big, mean and elite stuff. He has saved 3 games against me without allowing a base runner.
Fernando Valenzuela: effectively wild with great stuff and of course the fastball/screwball combo.
This roster is so fun!
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I went back and re-visited this roster over the weekend...my goodness...I really underestimated how good this one is. This might be the most franchise mode-friendly roster (along with Bacon's) in the vault right now. It's very stable over several seasons (tremendous work on the player potentials), and really does a nice job of working with the mode itself.
I know a lot of folks did fantasy drafts (I did initially too)...but I sorely underestimated the base team builds - they are outstanding. There's a lot of balance, but you can get a picture of who "should be" good now, and who will be down the road. There are some story threads to be pulled for nearly every team and I love that.
I had been wanting to do an AL franchise to pair with my Fictional Braves franchise, but I just love how my Reds are built (aging vets of the Big Red Machine paired with the Nasty Boys and younger guys from that 1990 championship team). Add to that the inclusion of generated career stats for the needed immersion (especially with in-game The Show Theme), and it's a thing of beauty.
So, some very belated love to this roster - this is definitely a hidden gem!
I went back and re-visited this roster over the weekend...my goodness...I really underestimated how good this one is. This might be the most franchise mode-friendly roster (along with Bacon's) in the vault right now. It's very stable over several seasons (tremendous work on the player potentials), and really does a nice job of working with the mode itself.
I know a lot of folks did fantasy drafts (I did initially too)...but I sorely underestimated the base team builds - they are outstanding. There's a lot of balance, but you can get a picture of who "should be" good now, and who will be down the road. There are some story threads to be pulled for nearly every team and I love that.
I had been wanting to do an AL franchise to pair with my Fictional Braves franchise, but I just love how my Reds are built (aging vets of the Big Red Machine paired with the Nasty Boys and younger guys from that 1990 championship team). Add to that the inclusion of generated career stats for the needed immersion (especially with in-game The Show Theme), and it's a thing of beauty.
So, some very belated love to this roster - this is definitely a hidden gem!
I am playing that KC Royals Fantasy Draft Franchise with this roster and it truly is an amazing piece of work.
I will go back and check the base roster again and probably do another franchise using it without a fantasy draft.
But I love that 1993 90 man. It is also a gem. But I get your hang ups with it lol.
I will go back and check the base roster again and probably do another franchise using it without a fantasy draft.
But I love that 1993 90 man. It is also a gem. But I get your hang ups with it lol.
Yeah, definitely take another gander at the base roster. I love the little touches like seeing players not showing up where they weren't necessarily developed but in many cases, where they made a name for themselves (like Robbie Alomar with the Jays or Vizquel in the Cleveland org). It adds to the vibe that this truly is more of a 'fantasy' roster and honestly, it helps me get over my own 'hump'....which has nothing to do with the quality of a roster....it's my own mental block :D
Dude....that's sorta why I posted what I did...I feel like it got buried a little after the initial release and wanted to make sure folks didn't miss out like we both did. I downloaded it after launch and then just sat on it as I just couldn't get into a fantasy draft chise.
It wasn't until I began looking at it this weekend that I was like, "Whoa...this is REALLY good". I started running some sims....and loved what I saw. I made a few of my own tweaks and I'm going to dive into a franchise.
Love it.
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Would be a dream come true!!!
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Thank-you all for such high praise. I'm beyond grateful to this community and all of the creators (much more talented than me)
who made mine possible. You guys have made an aging lover of the game feel like a kid again. A sincere thank you.
I decided to do a fantasy draft with the LA Angels, mainly due to the fact that I’ve never played a franchise with an AL west team. I had the 26th pick, late for the first round, but it provides an early 2nd round pick.
Here’s my lineup:
SS - Barry Larkin. (1st rd. Young & I’m a reds fan)
LF - Danny Gladden
3B - Paul Molitor (3rd rd)
CF - Kirby Puckett (2nd Rd)
1B - Carl Yaz (Old but one of my all time faves. He is a placeholder for a young Frank Thomas)
RF - RJ Reynolds (has an absolute cannon!)
DH - Bill Buckner (let’s get him WS redemption late in his career).
2B - Billy Ripken
C - Tom Pagnozzi
Key Bench players: Young Scott Broisus, Harold Reynolds,
SP:
1. Dave Stewart
2. Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn
3. Charlie Hough
4. Oil Can Boyd
5. Al Knipper
* Steve Avery & Kevin Tapani coming up in the system
RP:
Norm Charlton
Tippy Martinez
Juan Berenger
Rollie Fingers
Jeff Montgomery
Vern Rhule
To name a few…..
I have started out 2-0. Yaz hit an absolute bomb over the train in Houston. Was around 470. He’s hit 2 homers. Puckett & Molitor have been on fire at the plate. Great fielding team! Dave Stewart was dominant.
I love this roster! I’m pumped up again about MLB the show 20
I went back and re-visited this roster over the weekend...my goodness...I really underestimated how good this one is. This might be the most franchise mode-friendly roster (along with Bacon's) in the vault right now. It's very stable over several seasons (tremendous work on the player potentials), and really does a nice job of working with the mode itself.
I know a lot of folks did fantasy drafts (I did initially too)...but I sorely underestimated the base team builds - they are outstanding. There's a lot of balance, but you can get a picture of who "should be" good now, and who will be down the road. There are some story threads to be pulled for nearly every team and I love that.
I had been wanting to do an AL franchise to pair with my Fictional Braves franchise, but I just love how my Reds are built (aging vets of the Big Red Machine paired with the Nasty Boys and younger guys from that 1990 championship team). Add to that the inclusion of generated career stats for the needed immersion (especially with in-game The Show Theme), and it's a thing of beauty.
So, some very belated love to this roster - this is definitely a hidden gem!
Yes, I am having a blast with my Angles fantasy draft from this roster. However, as a reds fan, the above post piqued my curiosity. Man, were you correct! This is the perfect mixture of old & young transition, as you said.
There’s a lot of great rosters out there but this one is the best!
Love it.
Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports
Hey armor,
How is Kevin Mass developing? Has he learned to hit the curve ball?