Meet Redraider68

Name: Dan

Age: 42 Married, 2 kids Fred (10) and Sammi (2 months)

Job: Associate Database Administrator for an online university

My favorite HBD moment: Will be the first time I make the ML postseason. I just missed the wildcard in Lasorda last season by 2 games.

Know anyone from Hunter in real-life: Bigtex1 and I are brothers.

Favorite Teams: Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Raiders (hence the screen name), Ohio State Buckeyes.

Favorite Player: I took over a trashed team in Lasoda midway through the season so I received the #1 the following year. Dewey Crespo is a perennial MVP nominee (no wins yet) but his resume does include 5 All-Star appearances, 5 Silver Sluggers, 1 Gold Glove and Rookie of the Year.

Meet Stazrunner

As I mentioned I'll be trying to through these up one per day (missed yesterday was busy getting the house ready for a Halloween party).

Also as mentioned they are going up in the order I recieved them so the quickest trigger/mouse in Hunter is Stazrunner. I must admit he has exquiste tastes in hockey teams.

Name: Craig

Age: 28(single)

Job: Patient Admin Clerk for the military

Favorite HBD Moment: Have not had any moments worth remembering. I guess the rebuilding project that should come to success shortly in Maris world

Do you know any Hunter owners in real-life: No

Favorite Sports teams: Boston fan (Sox,Celts, B's, and Pats)

Favorite HBD player (which world)- Hoping it will be a twinkie (Hunter)

Meet the Commish

Name: Josh

Age: 29 (Married, first child due in Jan)

Job: Work in telecommunication sales (Engineer by trade)

Location: Waterloo, Canada (Yes, your commish is a canuck)

Favorite HBD Moment:

Winning my 1st Title in Hunter (S10), I had already picked up a WS in Monument Park but my Hunter team was my first team. It was especially sweet because I had blown a 3-2 series lead to Radek (a problematic owner) the previous year. Unfortunately my win came at Rockdawg's expense :)

Do you know any Hunter owners in real life?:

Yes, timf, beerman324,shmish & wolfhoundkl (original owner left after season 19. I've know timf since I was probably 8, him & I were in each other's wedding parties. I know what you are all thinking he was probably Bridesmaid (after 3 straight WS losses) all joking aside he was a groomsmen. Beerman324 I met at McMaster University, we were in the same Rez & then shared a house with 4 other guys for the next 3 years. Just like in University where I beat his a$$ consistently in Madden, I own him in HBD (85-51) as well :). I mention Wolf because he was another roomate in University & lived with Beerman & I. He also the reason I've met Shmish. Shmish & Wolf are friends in real-life and the 3 of us took in a Bruins/Leaf games last season. Shmish & I spent most of the game arguing over who was better David Reyes or Wendall Kinkade (the answer is clearly Kinkade).

Favorite Sports Teams:

Boston, Bruins (Champs), Miami Dolphins (Suck for Luck), Toronto Blue Jays & Toronto Raptors

Favorite HBD Player (which world):

Long-time Hunter owners know my answer to this question, as I've written sonnets about my love affair with Magglio Javier (Hunter LF- Seasons 1-10), 5-Time MVP (Hunter record) & 10-Allstar (Hunter record). The season 10 title was especially sweet because it was the last year Magglio wsa on the team prior to leaving for FA. So he left Louisville a champion. In true professional sports fashion when he was languishing in the minors in season 15 for Los Angelos. Randyrossac was nice enough to trade him back for a bag of balls so that he could retire in Louisville Red. He's since been inducted into the HOF.

Pittsburgh Studdabubbas S20 Wrap-Up

After 5 losing seasons, the Studdabubbas surprised even themselves by winning 98 games and the NL North for the first time since Season 14. The Bubbas won the first round bye but were quickly booted from the playoffs by Baltimore 3-1. While this success was rather shocking to everyone in the league, the reason was obvious—The Studdabubbas got lucky in free agency. Their Season 20 pickups in chronological order:

3B Charlie Carson - 29 y.o. - 5 years at $7.4M

Carson was playing second fiddle in Los Angeles ever since Eduardo Alarcon signed that monster 5-year deal and the Baja Racers declined his option for Season 20. This signing was a bit of a surprise since the Bubbas already had Buzz Abernathy at 3rd but it made sense. Carson was a huge upgrade and hit 31 homers batting 4th and gave Matt Buchanan some protection. After the Carson signing, Buzz Abernathy was shipped off to Los Angeles to get his $6M salary off of the books (this freed-up more money for the Bubbas to sign a couple pitchers).

SS Deivi Posada - 28 y.o. - 4 years at $5.2M

Getting a solid SS allowed veteran Frank Turner and youngster Pablo Andino to platoon at 2nd (hitting primarily against lefties, Turner hit .306). Posada's defense and .354 on base percentage made this another nice upgrade for the Bubbas.

CF Darron Stoddard - 31 y.o. - 3 years at $7M

Last season's CF, Charlie Bird, was not working out as an everyday player so the Studdabubbas went after 4-time all-star Darron Stoddard. Stoddard led-off most of the season. He had an OBP of .352, stole 24 bases, hit 24 home runs and batted-in 76 runs. He made his 5th All-Star Game in season 20 and is still fairly young.

SP Pedro Manto - 33 y.o. - 2 years at $4M

Everyone knows how cruddy Studdabubbas' pitching is so getting a washed-up starter like Manto was quite an achievement in Pittsburgh. Manto pitched well with a 15-9 record and a 1.33 WHIP. Well enough to be chosen for his first All-Star Game since season 11, when he was with San Francisco. This was the first time a Studdabubba pitcher was chosen for the all-star team since Kevin Pickering in Season 13.

SP Carlos Johnson - 34 y.o. - 1 year at $3.7M

Speaking of washed-up starting pitchers, Pittsburgh picked-up this bum off of the scrap heap. But dang it if this bum didn't have some game. Johnson's record was only 10-11 but he pitched 200 innings and had a WHIP of 1.31.

Another big acquisition in Season 20 was the Studdabubba's first round pick (6th overall), set-up man John Fisher who had a good season in Hi-A last year. The Studdabubbas also dished out $14.5M to sign international starting pitcher, Charles Bong. At AA, Bong went 5-1 in 10 starts with an ERA of 2.45. So it appears pitching help is on the way. Let's just hope it gets here before the hitting starts to die off.

The Studdabubbas spent pretty much every penny they had available last season in free agency. But beyond just spending it, they got some good, younger players to sign reasonable contracts. And, despite the signings, Pittsburgh only has about $40M wrapped up in salary going into Season 21. They still have some guys they need to sign but they are still in good shape.

Part of the reason Pittsburgh had such a good season was that some of the NL powerhouses started to fade but Season 20 was easily the best free agency period in Studdabubba history.

All-Hunter Catchers

Through the almost 20 seasons of Hunter there have been six catchers who have rose above the field for contention as the best C in the history of Hunter. I am going to break them down into Tiers, the Catcher for the All-Hunter team will be decided by votes. I am going to ask each owner send me the top 3 on their ballot, consider the below as merely a guide.

Tier 3:
T. Molina:
6675AB 408 HR 1284 RBI .307 AVG .917 OPS
1080 GP @ C
C ERA: 4.75 Past Balls: 122
Pitching Calling Max: 46
661SB Against CS %: 24.7%
Awards: 5-Time Allstars, 3 C Silver Sluggers & 3 World Series Rings

Looking at his hitting numbers alone can be a bit misleading; if you didn’t drill deeper you’d be crazy not to put him in Tier 1. The reason Molina ends up in Tier 3 is the fact he only played 1080 of his 1779 games at the position of C . The remainder due to his sub-par catching abilities were played at 1b, LF & DH (close to half his stats were racked up at a position other than C). His max pitch calling of 46 is also the lowest of anyone to make the list. While those are negatives, he is the only player on the list with 3 World Series Rings. He spent the majority of his career in New York with stints in Arizona (now Helena) prior & Philly post. It was Philly where he picked up his 3rd ring. He’s now playing out the string at AAA for Little Rock hoping for one last shot at the show and potentially a 4th ring.

B. Nixon:
5317AB 177 HR 786 RBI .294 AVG .819 OPS
1401 GP @ C
C ERA: 5.46 Past Balls: 106
960SB Against CS %: 26.9%
Pitching Calling Max: 63
Awards: 5-Time Allstars & 3 C Silver Sluggers

Compared to the others ahead of him on the list his defense is lacking with the worst C Era & his hitting numbers pale in comparison to the remaining options. The inclusion on the list is a tip of a cap to one of the top catchers in the first decade of Hunter. Had Nixon been younger when the world was born he might have been able to stack up better historically, he played almost his entire career with Rochester (now Scranton). An old Mase favorite he’d be happy to see him included on the list. Nixon played his last ML game in S11 & was retired by S13.

Tier 2:
Tanner Sager:
6004AB 217 HR 846 RBI .306 AVG .844 OPS
1449GP @ C
C ERA: 4.48 Past Balls: 127
907SB Against CS %: 19.2%
Pitching Calling Max: 64
Awards: 10-Time Allstars, 6 C Silver Sluggers & 1 World Series Ring

It may seem odd to find a player with Tanner Sager’s hardware in tier two, however compared to the three remaining choices I believe he’s in the right spot. I think everyone can agree that the All-Star selection process does need some work. Sager spent 11 seasons in Washington where he won his only ring before moving to Florida for S19 & is still in the majors with SLC in S20. His pitch calling is decent but his CS% is the lowest of anyone on this list. He had a plus bat for a catcher but the remaining guys had ++ bats and in two cases + defense as well.

Tier 1:
Alex Campos:
5836AB 304 HR 1000 RBI .312 AVG .897 OPS
1799GP @ C
C ERA: 4.53 Past Balls: 69
858SB Against CS %: 26.8%
Pitching Calling Max: 84
Awards: 1 Gold-Glove & 1 Silver Slugger

The first think you’ll notice about Campos is a startling lack of hardware. However he is the only C on the list to have won a gold glove. The biggest knock on Campos is his durability which limits him to about 400AB a year and keeps him out of the running on year to year awards. Having said that of the six finalists he owns the best pitch calling, tied for the best CS% & given up the fewest past balls by a considerable margin. He’s clearly the best defender on the list and on top of the defensive accolades he’s also hit 300+ HR and has 1000RBI, so he’s not just on the list for his glove. Full disclosure he’s the only player on the list that’s played for the Sluggers. His career in the ML started with Louisville before heading to Texas (now Monterray) and then returning to Louisville.

A. Butler:
5055AB 289 HR 994 RBI .330 AVG .971 OPS
1287GP @ C
C ERA: 4.24 Past Balls: 125
807SB Against CS %: 23.4%
Pitching Calling Max: 63
Awards: 7-Time AllStar, 7-Time Silver Slugger & 1 World Series

Bulter was a glaring omission caught by his former owner Smhish when I posted the initial list. He is the youngest member of the list at 35 with several years left in his career to pad his stats. Of the players on the list he has the most Silver Sluggers, best avg., best C Era & .971 OPS. He spent his entire career with SLC winning a World Series before moving to Columbus for this season. I have him 2nd on my ballot based on his slightly lower PC and the fact, I think his %’s are inflated since he hasn’t had to play through the tail end of his career like the other two tier 1 guys, Campos is 39 & the next player is retired.

S.Moraga:
5729AB 403 HR 1090 RBI .300 AVG .913 OPS
1719GP @ C
C ERA: 4.58 Past Balls: 127
769SB Against CS %: 25.1%
Pitching Calling Max: 79
Awards: 6-Time AllStar & 3-Time Silver Slugger

It was a tough call between the three tier-1 guys but I personally am giving Moraga my first place ballot based on the following rationale. He is arguably the best hitter on the list (T. Molina’s non-C stats excluded). Bulter will catch him in RBI, but not in HR and I think their %s will be a lot closer once Bulter plays through the tail end of his career. Even if you give Bulter the slight edge in hitting Moraga was a much better defender, behind Campos he was probably the best on the list. Morgana was the best of both worlds behind the plate that’s why I have him nipped Bulter & Campos at the finish line.