You have heard me mention several times that I long for the day we return all 32 teams from year to year. You may think it's because I think it makes for a stronger league or so we can get rolling right after the world series. The truth is, I'm really just lazy. If we don't get new teams, I'm off the hook from writing this article.
But alas, here we are again. We had to fill 6 spots last season but only had 3 vacancies this season. That's progress. And, I know it's only been a couple weeks, but I like what I see from these new owners. They don't seem to be afraid to ask questions in the forums or make controversial trades. Good luck guys. You will probably need it.
Dover Blue Crabs (testudo34) Philadelphia Black Sox (bkdries)
We were sad to lose bkdries after 11 seasons of service but we really only have one person to blame. Mdukes! Yes, Mdukes has dominated the AL East since the beginning of time winning the division every year but one. Bkdries took his Sox to the playoffs several times but always as a wildcard. Enter testudo34. A complete newbie to the HBD world but a successful, experienced manager in Hoops dynasty boasting 121 seasons and 2 national championships. Testudo's first move was cutting his team's salary by about $20M and his free agent strategy has pretty much just been resigning his best players. Seems like a smart strategy for a guy who is taking his first lap around the HBD track. Also, this is the first time I have played with a team from Dover. They have nice hats.
Boise Barstool Prophets (rounders31) formerly Tacoma Twilight (hbdgirl)
Apparently, we were too smart for hbdgirl because she decided to go back to school after one season with us. In a short time, she was able to get this team above .500 for the first time since season one. But this franchise is still looking for its first playoff appearance and rounders31 doesn't seem to be wasting any time getting there. The Prophets have hit free agency and the trade block hard and spent some money in this offseason. While their pitching was good last season, it could be even better this season. But they still had one of the worst hitting teams in the league last season which hasn't really been addressed yet. Rounders31 has bounced around in a bunch of worlds racking up 16 seasons of experience but has currently only in 3 worlds and hopefully will stop the one-and-done ownership that has plagued this team for the last 3 seasons. That said, this is still a young team moving in the right direction.
Tampa Bay Tornados (tk21775) formerly Montgomery Mastodons (hooner65)
This franchise has had a one-and-done owner for the last three seasons, too. This team hit well last year but the pitching squad was one of the worst in the league. And that's exactly what tk21775 focused on this offseason. He spent a lot of money to get seven pretty good (if not terribly young) pitchers via free agency. This should be an interesting team to watch this year. Hooner had a pretty good season last year but got frustrated that he wasn't winning in that tough AL South (which, by the way, still has 3 original Hunter owners playing in it). Tk21775 is pretty new to HBD. He is in 9 worlds but has not completed a season yet in any of them. Hopefully, he'll have good luck here and, when his wife realizes how much money he spent on this game, he'll decide that Hunter is the world to stay with.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Behind the numbers: Career HR List
I’ve decided to start a new contribution to the blog whenever possible. I will start taking a look at the Career leaders for certain categories and then investigate their career to let you know how they got there, trades, FA, waivers etc.
1. Lonny Igelias, Col/Col Springs (559 HR)
Lonny was the first player to reach 500 HR in Hunter beating Magglio Javier by a single game in S10. He was also a member of Hunter’s NL All-Decade team as the starting 2b.
Igelias has only played for two teams in Hunter : Colorado and the now defunct Mule Deer (now know as Salt Lake City).
Colorado acquired Igelias in season 5 from philo and the Mule Deer for three players. The three players were Dennis Abe, Rex Lawerence and Phil Maxwell. Dennis Abe currently plays for the Chicago Fire and has 872 ML games played results in 102 career HR and a .267 Average. Rex Lawerence currently plays for Richmond and has 83 ML IP with 41 SVs and a career ERA of 6.51. Finally, Phil Maxwell is now retired although he did have a brief ML career playing 194 ML games and finishing with 20 career HR and a ML career average of .279.
Thus far Dennis Abe has been the best of the bunch and currently sits 457 HR short of Igelias. Rex Lawerance does show some promise however, has yet to have the ratings translate into stats. Needless to say, I’m guessing Leppy is okay with the results from this trade.
For his career he has received the following awards: 3 All-Star appearances, 2 Second base Silver Sluggers, 1 LF Silver Slugger and 1 LF Gold glove.
2. Magglio Javier, LA/Sal/Lou (534 HR)
As mentioned above Javier was the 2nd palyer in Hunter history to hit 500 HR but was the first to reach 1500 RBI earlier this season for the Salem Bald Beavers. Javeir like Igelias was a member of the Hunter All-Decade team as the starting LF for the AL team. Javier could arguably be considered the greatest player in the first 10 years of Hunter.
Up until Season 11 he had spent his entire career with the Louisville Sluggers organization leading the franchise to their first World Series victory in Season 10, while picking up his 5th MVP award along the way. As a side note, M. Javier’s also finished 2nd in MVP voting three times behind another member of this list (I believe this is called foreshadowing).
After season 10 Javier left Louisville Sluggers and signed a 4 year with the Salem franchise, after only half a season in Salem he was dealt to LA Baja Racers for Spike Hunter, Albert Velaquez and minor league pitcher. Hunter and Velaquez are currently playing on Salem’s ML franchise. Since Javier’s arrival in LA, the Baja Racers have found their way into a tight NL wild card race. The Baja Racers are looking for their first playoff appearance.
For his career Javier won the following awards all as a member of the Louisville Sluggers: 5 AL MVPS, 1 Rookie of the Year, 9 All-star Appearances and 5 LF Silver Sluggers
3. Rich Peters (Balt.) (522 HR)
Peters out of all the players on this list has the stable existence as he has spent his entire career as a member of the Baltimore Baydogs. Peters was the 3rd member of Hunter to reach the 500 HR mark. Had it not been for an injury that limited Peters to 5 GP in season 4, he would have had a good chance to be the first man to 500 HR.
Peters like Javier and Igelias was also a member of the Hunter All-Decade team. He was the starting 1b for the NL team.
For his career Peters won the following awards: 1 Silver Slugger RF, 2 Silver Slugger 1b, 1 All-Star appearance and 1 1b Gold Glove
4. James Hayahsi (Lou/Wich/Col/Tuc/LA) (470 HR)
Hayahsi like Peters, Javier and Igelais was a member of the Hunter All-Decade team however, he was the first one not to garner a starting spot. Hayashi made the team as the NL Lf back-up to Albert Henly.
Hayashi had quite an interesting career as far as movement went. He spent his first 3 .5 seasons in the AL as a member of the Wichita Bad-boys who are now know as the Montgomery Mastodons.
He was traded to Colorado in season 4 in a 3 for 3 deal. Wichita landed Harry Miller, Kris Fontenent and Tony Piedra in the deal that saw Hayahsi, Quixote and a career minor league move to COL. Miller currently plays for Buffalo and has racked up 2230 ML IP with a career record of 120-134 and a 4.96 ERA. Fontenent currently a reliever for the Louisville Sluggers and has accumulated 165 ML IP with a record of 15-2 and a career ML era of 3.28. Piedra has since retired and had a brief cup of coffee in the majors resulting in a 5.17 ERA over 76 IP. Along with Hayashi, Colorado also received Odalias Quixote a catcher who has bounced around the bigs and has 346 GP with a .262 ML batting average and currently plays for the Burlington.
Here is where things get interesting after season 4 Hayashi declined the player option on this contract making him a FA after a Hunter record 87 HR season. Needless to say he was a man in high demand. The result was the largest contract in Hunter history and Hunters’ first 100M dollar man. The total value of the deal was 106.5M dollar and was given out by 13black and the Tucson Shockers (now St. Louis). At the time there were concerns 13black would bail soon after handing out the contract to his credit 13black stayed and saw the monster deal to it’s end. For a 106M dollars Tucson got 180 HR and 617 RBI’s over 5 seasons. Very good production but I’m guessing 13black wanted more when inking the deal.
After his contract ended with Tucson he signed on with LA Baja Racers for season 10 where he added another 11 HR to his career total in 330 at-bats. After leaving LA as a FA, the Louisville Sluggers signed Hayashi to a minor league deal barring a late season call-up Hayashi’s career is probably over and he will fall 30 HR shy of 500.
5. Lou Stevenson (Salem/Augusta/St. Louis/Chicago) 450 HR
Each member of this list can claim their career to be something relative to the four. Igelias can claim to be the 1st (to 500), Javier can claim to be the most prolific, Peters can claim to be the most stable, Hayashi can claim to be the most “interesting” and finally Stevenson can claim to be the biggest “disappointment”. Now it seems odd to say about a man with 5 MVP’s and 450 career HR but you’ll understand after looking at his career.
Stevenson started his career for the Chicago Fire playing 4 full seasons in the AL before being traded to the NL mid-way through 5th season. Stevenson won MVP EVERY full season he played in the AL. In fact him and Javier have combined to win 9 out of the 10 AL MVP’s awarded. In Stevenson’s first full NL season (Season 6) he added an NL MVP to his award case making him the first player to win AL and NL MVP’s and sits tied with Magglio Javier for the most total MVP’s.
Chicago traded Steveson to St. Louis Clydesdales (Now Augusta) for three players: Glen Morris, Olerud and Marc Ratcliff. Olerud still plays for Chicago and was the Season 9 Rookie of the year, Glen Morris is currently the CF for the new St. Louis franchise and has two 20 HR seasons under his belt and finally Ratcliff sits at AAA for LA but has pitched 450 career ML innings with 156 career saves and a career ERA of 4.97.
As an interesting side now the owner that traded for Stevenson (St. Louis Clydesdales) returned to Hunter this season after a few season hiatus as Burlington (Jdkaput).
This is where the plot thickens or so they say. After his season six MVP Stevenson was relegated to limited playing time and saw his at-bats drop from 347 to 216 to 102 at bats over seasons 7-9. This was a result of two factors St. Louis/Augusta was a good team, plus at this point in his career Stevenson was a DH playing in the NL. This is where the disappointment comes in for seasons 7-9 he was still good enough to be a starting DH on an AL team and proved that by hitting 15 HR 81 RBI and .323 average in season 10 upon his return to AL (Salem). Had Stevenson not been stuck in a bad situation for three seasons, you could safety add 60 HR to his career total putting him in contention for the first hitter to 500. Instead it looks like he will fall 50 HR short of the 500 club barring a few HR down the stretch for Salem.
For his career he won the following awards: 4 AL MVP’s, 1 NL MVP, 4 1b Silver Slugger, 1 DH Silver Slugger and 3 all-star appearances.
1. Lonny Igelias, Col/Col Springs (559 HR)
Lonny was the first player to reach 500 HR in Hunter beating Magglio Javier by a single game in S10. He was also a member of Hunter’s NL All-Decade team as the starting 2b.
Igelias has only played for two teams in Hunter : Colorado and the now defunct Mule Deer (now know as Salt Lake City).
Colorado acquired Igelias in season 5 from philo and the Mule Deer for three players. The three players were Dennis Abe, Rex Lawerence and Phil Maxwell. Dennis Abe currently plays for the Chicago Fire and has 872 ML games played results in 102 career HR and a .267 Average. Rex Lawerence currently plays for Richmond and has 83 ML IP with 41 SVs and a career ERA of 6.51. Finally, Phil Maxwell is now retired although he did have a brief ML career playing 194 ML games and finishing with 20 career HR and a ML career average of .279.
Thus far Dennis Abe has been the best of the bunch and currently sits 457 HR short of Igelias. Rex Lawerance does show some promise however, has yet to have the ratings translate into stats. Needless to say, I’m guessing Leppy is okay with the results from this trade.
For his career he has received the following awards: 3 All-Star appearances, 2 Second base Silver Sluggers, 1 LF Silver Slugger and 1 LF Gold glove.
2. Magglio Javier, LA/Sal/Lou (534 HR)
As mentioned above Javier was the 2nd palyer in Hunter history to hit 500 HR but was the first to reach 1500 RBI earlier this season for the Salem Bald Beavers. Javeir like Igelias was a member of the Hunter All-Decade team as the starting LF for the AL team. Javier could arguably be considered the greatest player in the first 10 years of Hunter.
Up until Season 11 he had spent his entire career with the Louisville Sluggers organization leading the franchise to their first World Series victory in Season 10, while picking up his 5th MVP award along the way. As a side note, M. Javier’s also finished 2nd in MVP voting three times behind another member of this list (I believe this is called foreshadowing).
After season 10 Javier left Louisville Sluggers and signed a 4 year with the Salem franchise, after only half a season in Salem he was dealt to LA Baja Racers for Spike Hunter, Albert Velaquez and minor league pitcher. Hunter and Velaquez are currently playing on Salem’s ML franchise. Since Javier’s arrival in LA, the Baja Racers have found their way into a tight NL wild card race. The Baja Racers are looking for their first playoff appearance.
For his career Javier won the following awards all as a member of the Louisville Sluggers: 5 AL MVPS, 1 Rookie of the Year, 9 All-star Appearances and 5 LF Silver Sluggers
3. Rich Peters (Balt.) (522 HR)
Peters out of all the players on this list has the stable existence as he has spent his entire career as a member of the Baltimore Baydogs. Peters was the 3rd member of Hunter to reach the 500 HR mark. Had it not been for an injury that limited Peters to 5 GP in season 4, he would have had a good chance to be the first man to 500 HR.
Peters like Javier and Igelias was also a member of the Hunter All-Decade team. He was the starting 1b for the NL team.
For his career Peters won the following awards: 1 Silver Slugger RF, 2 Silver Slugger 1b, 1 All-Star appearance and 1 1b Gold Glove
4. James Hayahsi (Lou/Wich/Col/Tuc/LA) (470 HR)
Hayahsi like Peters, Javier and Igelais was a member of the Hunter All-Decade team however, he was the first one not to garner a starting spot. Hayashi made the team as the NL Lf back-up to Albert Henly.
Hayashi had quite an interesting career as far as movement went. He spent his first 3 .5 seasons in the AL as a member of the Wichita Bad-boys who are now know as the Montgomery Mastodons.
He was traded to Colorado in season 4 in a 3 for 3 deal. Wichita landed Harry Miller, Kris Fontenent and Tony Piedra in the deal that saw Hayahsi, Quixote and a career minor league move to COL. Miller currently plays for Buffalo and has racked up 2230 ML IP with a career record of 120-134 and a 4.96 ERA. Fontenent currently a reliever for the Louisville Sluggers and has accumulated 165 ML IP with a record of 15-2 and a career ML era of 3.28. Piedra has since retired and had a brief cup of coffee in the majors resulting in a 5.17 ERA over 76 IP. Along with Hayashi, Colorado also received Odalias Quixote a catcher who has bounced around the bigs and has 346 GP with a .262 ML batting average and currently plays for the Burlington.
Here is where things get interesting after season 4 Hayashi declined the player option on this contract making him a FA after a Hunter record 87 HR season. Needless to say he was a man in high demand. The result was the largest contract in Hunter history and Hunters’ first 100M dollar man. The total value of the deal was 106.5M dollar and was given out by 13black and the Tucson Shockers (now St. Louis). At the time there were concerns 13black would bail soon after handing out the contract to his credit 13black stayed and saw the monster deal to it’s end. For a 106M dollars Tucson got 180 HR and 617 RBI’s over 5 seasons. Very good production but I’m guessing 13black wanted more when inking the deal.
After his contract ended with Tucson he signed on with LA Baja Racers for season 10 where he added another 11 HR to his career total in 330 at-bats. After leaving LA as a FA, the Louisville Sluggers signed Hayashi to a minor league deal barring a late season call-up Hayashi’s career is probably over and he will fall 30 HR shy of 500.
5. Lou Stevenson (Salem/Augusta/St. Louis/Chicago) 450 HR
Each member of this list can claim their career to be something relative to the four. Igelias can claim to be the 1st (to 500), Javier can claim to be the most prolific, Peters can claim to be the most stable, Hayashi can claim to be the most “interesting” and finally Stevenson can claim to be the biggest “disappointment”. Now it seems odd to say about a man with 5 MVP’s and 450 career HR but you’ll understand after looking at his career.
Stevenson started his career for the Chicago Fire playing 4 full seasons in the AL before being traded to the NL mid-way through 5th season. Stevenson won MVP EVERY full season he played in the AL. In fact him and Javier have combined to win 9 out of the 10 AL MVP’s awarded. In Stevenson’s first full NL season (Season 6) he added an NL MVP to his award case making him the first player to win AL and NL MVP’s and sits tied with Magglio Javier for the most total MVP’s.
Chicago traded Steveson to St. Louis Clydesdales (Now Augusta) for three players: Glen Morris, Olerud and Marc Ratcliff. Olerud still plays for Chicago and was the Season 9 Rookie of the year, Glen Morris is currently the CF for the new St. Louis franchise and has two 20 HR seasons under his belt and finally Ratcliff sits at AAA for LA but has pitched 450 career ML innings with 156 career saves and a career ERA of 4.97.
As an interesting side now the owner that traded for Stevenson (St. Louis Clydesdales) returned to Hunter this season after a few season hiatus as Burlington (Jdkaput).
This is where the plot thickens or so they say. After his season six MVP Stevenson was relegated to limited playing time and saw his at-bats drop from 347 to 216 to 102 at bats over seasons 7-9. This was a result of two factors St. Louis/Augusta was a good team, plus at this point in his career Stevenson was a DH playing in the NL. This is where the disappointment comes in for seasons 7-9 he was still good enough to be a starting DH on an AL team and proved that by hitting 15 HR 81 RBI and .323 average in season 10 upon his return to AL (Salem). Had Stevenson not been stuck in a bad situation for three seasons, you could safety add 60 HR to his career total putting him in contention for the first hitter to 500. Instead it looks like he will fall 50 HR short of the 500 club barring a few HR down the stretch for Salem.
For his career he won the following awards: 4 AL MVP’s, 1 NL MVP, 4 1b Silver Slugger, 1 DH Silver Slugger and 3 all-star appearances.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Power Rankings update
S11 Power Rankings (after 100 games)
1. San Juan RRTA - move up 3 spots
2. San Francisco Night Demons - move up 3 spots
3. New York Metropolitans - drop 1 spot
4. New Britain Yorkies - move up 5 spots
5. Atlanta Chees Grits - move up 2 spots
6. Louisville Sluggers - drop 5 spots
7. Colorado Blasters - drop 3 spots
8. Pittsburgh Studdabubbas - same
9. Cleveland MooseDwag - drop 3 spots
10. Scottsdale Aces - back in the top 10
1. San Juan RRTA - move up 3 spots
2. San Francisco Night Demons - move up 3 spots
3. New York Metropolitans - drop 1 spot
4. New Britain Yorkies - move up 5 spots
5. Atlanta Chees Grits - move up 2 spots
6. Louisville Sluggers - drop 5 spots
7. Colorado Blasters - drop 3 spots
8. Pittsburgh Studdabubbas - same
9. Cleveland MooseDwag - drop 3 spots
10. Scottsdale Aces - back in the top 10
Friday, February 6, 2009
Season 11 Power Rankings
Keep in mind that these power rankings are mostly based on season 10 and not the first 40 games of season 11, after 3/4 (120 games) of season 11 we may have an update if necessary. Majority of the rankings are determined by votes combined with stats and on field performance.
Top 10 Power Rankings
1. (+1) Louisville Sluggers (101-61) - For the past two seasons Louisville represented the AL in the World Series, winning it all last season for the first time in franchise history. Sluggers finished season 10 with the 3rd best offense in Hunter scoring 1011 runs and hitting .292 as a team, I must point out that was with Magglio Javier in the lineup who is no longer with the team. The pitching staff led by Bob Creek and Gene Fitzgerald finished 11th best in Hunter with a 4.50 team ERA and 1.42 team WHIP, the defense finished 14th best with a .982 FPct. Most of last season, playoffs and the World Series the offense carried this team. As we all know Sluggers superstar Magglio Javier signed with the Salem Bald Beavers as a free agent, it will be interesting to see how this lineup performs without him.
2. (-1) New York Metropolitans (114-48) - Season 9 Champs held the best record in Hunter all of last season and finished with most wins in the world and franchise history. Their season came crashing down when they were eliminated in the NLCS by division rival Cleveland Moosdawg. New York finished season 10 with Hunter's 2nd best pitching staff that posted 3.55 team ERA, 1.26 team WHIP and also had the most strike outs (1168) and saves (66). With last season’s NL Cy Young and Fire Man awards winners on this staff we should expect more of the same in season 11. Metropolitans offense finished 6th in Hunter with 917 runs scored and .284 team BA on a very disappointing season for many hitters. The defense finished 5th in Hunter with a .983 FPct and also posted 4443 put outs which was most in the word. This team is solid all around and nothing but the Championship will do.
3. (+2) San Juan RRTA (114-48) - There is couple of reasons why San Juan moved up 2 spots in the rankings. First let me point out that RRTA finished season 10 with the 2nd best offense that scored 1040 runs with a .292 team BA and the best defense in Hunter that posted a .989 FPct with only 67 errors. On top of having the best defense and 2nd bestoffense I must point out that San Juan also signed the best IFA of season 10, SP Roberto Santiago went 13-0 in his rookie year in 21 starts. At 21 years old he is already considered one of the best starters in Hunter. He is also the single reason why San Juan edged the Colorado Blasters for the 3rd spot on the rankings. After studying this team for a while I must say that in my opinion they look the strongest out of all the teams on this list and get my vote as the favorites to win the World Series in season 11.
4. (E) Colorado Blasters (102-60) - The Blasters come into season 11 making the most noise in the off season trading for Ace starters Felipe Bournigal and Kelvin Coleman who will try to power this team to another Championship. Colorado enters season 11 with the highest player payroll in Hunter with 112M. Hunter’s top offense scored 1138 runs last season , that’s 98 runs better than the 2nd best team. They also had the most hits (1803), HR (442), RBI’s (1121), team BA (.302), SLG (.575) and .938 OPS. The pitching staff finished 17th with a 4.92 team ERA and the defense ranked 22nd but the additions of Coleman and Bournigal should help both in more ways than one. Colorado’s killer lineup plus this upgraded pitching staff puts them in the 4th spot on the rankings and definitely makes them one of the strongest teams in Hunter.
5. (-2) San Francisco Night Demons (104-58) – San Francisco dropped 2 spots in the rankings because of two main reasons, Felipe Bournigal is no longer with the club and San Juan had to take over the 3rd seed. In return for Bournigal the Night Demons got a 23 y.o. ace Quentin Lary who’ll dominate the AL for the next 15 seasons. Hunter’s best pitching staff led by veteran Pete Daly finished S10 with a 3.24 team ERA and 1.17 team WHIP, with Bournigal/Lary swap they won’t lose much ground. San Fran may be all about pitching but lets not forget their 13th ranked lineup that scored 870 runs last season and since this line up is mostly made up of young hitters the future looks bright.
6. (*) Atlanta Cheese Grits (93-69) – Atlanta stormed onto the power rankings by finishing season 10 with 93 wins and beating the favorite Night Demons in the ALDS. They lost in the ALCS to the current Champions Sluggers but this is a young team that could become very dangerous in the near future. The Cheese Grits pitching staff finished 4th in Hunter last season, proving they could pitch with the best. The offense scored 897 times last season (11th best) and their 10th ranked defense displayed a average .982 FPct.
7. (*) Cleveland MoosDawg (84-78) - Cleveland stormed into the rankings after their playof run that ended with the NL Championship. On their way to the WS Cleveland ran over Colorado, San Juan and New York, all 100+ wins teams. The MoosDawg line up under performed in the regular season finishing 28th in Hunter with 794 runs scored and .262 team BA. In the post season it was a different story as they hit almost everything that came their way. Led by youngsters like Larry Cannon, Britt Perkins and Alex Diaz this line up will only get better. MoosDawg pitching staff surprised a lot of hitters last season finishing with 4.02 team ERA and 1.42 WHIP, that makes them the 3rd best staff in Hunter. If this 17th ranked defense could play better then their .981 FPct the pitching staff could be even better. Overall this is a young team that's getting better fast.
8.(-2) Pittsburgh Studdabubbas (96-66) - NL North Champs for the past 2 seasons were eliminated from the playoffs by losing 3 straight 1-run games in the NLDS, that's how close they are from braking
through the door. Their pitching staff finished 7th in Hunter with 4.21 team ERA and 1.38 WHIP, with a bit more help from their 18th ranked defense they could be top 5 staff. The strength of this team is their powerful line up that ranked 7th with 916 runs scored but ranked 4th with their .288 team BA. Veterans Willie Drew, Rodrigo Brito, and Archie Blake make this line up very dangerous.
9. (-2) New Britan Yorkies (94-68) - AL North Champs dropped 2 spots because Cleveland and Atlanta moved in front of them. New Britain can jump up these ranking in one season, that's how good they are.
The Yorkies pitching staff tied for 5th in Hunter with a 4.20 team ERA, the offense did not do as well finishing 19th with 827 runs scored and the defense ranked 12th with their .982 FPct. With a few adjustments specially to the line up this team is capable of making huge strides in season 11.
10. (*) Rochester Scorpions (90-68) - The Scorpions won the AL East for the first time in franchise history last season and are looking for repete this season. Their 8th ranked pitching staff finished last season with a 4.22 team ERA, their 21st ranked offense finished with 816 runs scored and their 10th ranked defense posted a .980 FPct. Rochester must make some improvements if they want to be considered one of the top teams in Hunter but winning their division and getting onto the power ranking is great step in that direction.
Top 10 Power Rankings
1. (+1) Louisville Sluggers (101-61) - For the past two seasons Louisville represented the AL in the World Series, winning it all last season for the first time in franchise history. Sluggers finished season 10 with the 3rd best offense in Hunter scoring 1011 runs and hitting .292 as a team, I must point out that was with Magglio Javier in the lineup who is no longer with the team. The pitching staff led by Bob Creek and Gene Fitzgerald finished 11th best in Hunter with a 4.50 team ERA and 1.42 team WHIP, the defense finished 14th best with a .982 FPct. Most of last season, playoffs and the World Series the offense carried this team. As we all know Sluggers superstar Magglio Javier signed with the Salem Bald Beavers as a free agent, it will be interesting to see how this lineup performs without him. 
2. (-1) New York Metropolitans (114-48) - Season 9 Champs held the best record in Hunter all of last season and finished with most wins in the world and franchise history. Their season came crashing down when they were eliminated in the NLCS by division rival Cleveland Moosdawg. New York finished season 10 with Hunter's 2nd best pitching staff that posted 3.55 team ERA, 1.26 team WHIP and also had the most strike outs (1168) and saves (66). With last season’s NL Cy Young and Fire Man awards winners on this staff we should expect more of the same in season 11. Metropolitans offense finished 6th in Hunter with 917 runs scored and .284 team BA on a very disappointing season for many hitters. The defense finished 5th in Hunter with a .983 FPct and also posted 4443 put outs which was most in the word. This team is solid all around and nothing but the Championship will do.
3. (+2) San Juan RRTA (114-48) - There is couple of reasons why San Juan moved up 2 spots in the rankings. First let me point out that RRTA finished season 10 with the 2nd best offense that scored 1040 runs with a .292 team BA and the best defense in Hunter that posted a .989 FPct with only 67 errors. On top of having the best defense and 2nd bestoffense I must point out that San Juan also signed the best IFA of season 10, SP Roberto Santiago went 13-0 in his rookie year in 21 starts. At 21 years old he is already considered one of the best starters in Hunter. He is also the single reason why San Juan edged the Colorado Blasters for the 3rd spot on the rankings. After studying this team for a while I must say that in my opinion they look the strongest out of all the teams on this list and get my vote as the favorites to win the World Series in season 11.
4. (E) Colorado Blasters (102-60) - The Blasters come into season 11 making the most noise in the off season trading for Ace starters Felipe Bournigal and Kelvin Coleman who will try to power this team to another Championship. Colorado enters season 11 with the highest player payroll in Hunter with 112M. Hunter’s top offense scored 1138 runs last season , that’s 98 runs better than the 2nd best team. They also had the most hits (1803), HR (442), RBI’s (1121), team BA (.302), SLG (.575) and .938 OPS. The pitching staff finished 17th with a 4.92 team ERA and the defense ranked 22nd but the additions of Coleman and Bournigal should help both in more ways than one. Colorado’s killer lineup plus this upgraded pitching staff puts them in the 4th spot on the rankings and definitely makes them one of the strongest teams in Hunter.
5. (-2) San Francisco Night Demons (104-58) – San Francisco dropped 2 spots in the rankings because of two main reasons, Felipe Bournigal is no longer with the club and San Juan had to take over the 3rd seed. In return for Bournigal the Night Demons got a 23 y.o. ace Quentin Lary who’ll dominate the AL for the next 15 seasons. Hunter’s best pitching staff led by veteran Pete Daly finished S10 with a 3.24 team ERA and 1.17 team WHIP, with Bournigal/Lary swap they won’t lose much ground. San Fran may be all about pitching but lets not forget their 13th ranked lineup that scored 870 runs last season and since this line up is mostly made up of young hitters the future looks bright. 
6. (*) Atlanta Cheese Grits (93-69) – Atlanta stormed onto the power rankings by finishing season 10 with 93 wins and beating the favorite Night Demons in the ALDS. They lost in the ALCS to the current Champions Sluggers but this is a young team that could become very dangerous in the near future. The Cheese Grits pitching staff finished 4th in Hunter last season, proving they could pitch with the best. The offense scored 897 times last season (11th best) and their 10th ranked defense displayed a average .982 FPct.
7. (*) Cleveland MoosDawg (84-78) - Cleveland stormed into the rankings after their playof run that ended with the NL Championship. On their way to the WS Cleveland ran over Colorado, San Juan and New York, all 100+ wins teams. The MoosDawg line up under performed in the regular season finishing 28th in Hunter with 794 runs scored and .262 team BA. In the post season it was a different story as they hit almost everything that came their way. Led by youngsters like Larry Cannon, Britt Perkins and Alex Diaz this line up will only get better. MoosDawg pitching staff surprised a lot of hitters last season finishing with 4.02 team ERA and 1.42 WHIP, that makes them the 3rd best staff in Hunter. If this 17th ranked defense could play better then their .981 FPct the pitching staff could be even better. Overall this is a young team that's getting better fast.
8.(-2) Pittsburgh Studdabubbas (96-66) - NL North Champs for the past 2 seasons were eliminated from the playoffs by losing 3 straight 1-run games in the NLDS, that's how close they are from brakingthrough the door. Their pitching staff finished 7th in Hunter with 4.21 team ERA and 1.38 WHIP, with a bit more help from their 18th ranked defense they could be top 5 staff. The strength of this team is their powerful line up that ranked 7th with 916 runs scored but ranked 4th with their .288 team BA. Veterans Willie Drew, Rodrigo Brito, and Archie Blake make this line up very dangerous.
9. (-2) New Britan Yorkies (94-68) - AL North Champs dropped 2 spots because Cleveland and Atlanta moved in front of them. New Britain can jump up these ranking in one season, that's how good they are.The Yorkies pitching staff tied for 5th in Hunter with a 4.20 team ERA, the offense did not do as well finishing 19th with 827 runs scored and the defense ranked 12th with their .982 FPct. With a few adjustments specially to the line up this team is capable of making huge strides in season 11.
10. (*) Rochester Scorpions (90-68) - The Scorpions won the AL East for the first time in franchise history last season and are looking for repete this season. Their 8th ranked pitching staff finished last season with a 4.22 team ERA, their 21st ranked offense finished with 816 runs scored and their 10th ranked defense posted a .980 FPct. Rochester must make some improvements if they want to be considered one of the top teams in Hunter but winning their division and getting onto the power ranking is great step in that direction. Scottsdale, Tacoma and Texas are knocking on the door.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Moving Pitchers: Season 11 Relocation Report
In what is apparently a tough time to fill worlds in Hardball Dynasty, we found our most experienced class of new owners ever. Hopefully, this group has staying power so we can, for the first time, reach our goal of returning all 32 teams.
Speaking of returning teams, I counted which season's new recruits has the most active returns since Hunter started. Needless to say, season 1 has the best retention rate (11 teams) but I was rather surprised to see which season ranked second...We still have 4 owners from season 7's class (beerman324, randyrossrac, carmandjr, firedock). Third place goes to season 2's class from which we have 3 owners. We have nobody left from seasons 6 and 8. I don't know what any of this means but that has never stopped me from posting on the blog before.
What was I talking about? Oh, yes. The new folk. All of these new owners are taking over not so good teams so it's not going to be a cakewalk for any of them. Who will turn their team into a winner first? Let's meet them:
Syracuse Coureurs Des Bois (beesore) formerly Helena Hashies (tbook)
Sheesh, never before did one of these silly write-ups turn into a history lesson. If, like me, you did not take French in highschool, A coureur des bois (runner of the woods) was an individual who engaged in the fur trade without permission from the French authorities in North America in the 17th century (or so says wikipedia). Phew. Thinking is hard. Anyway, this is the franchise that one of our originators, tbook, dropped last season. As successful as tbook has been in HD, he could never quite get his Hunter team rolling. He never won a division title and never proceeded far in the playoffs. Beesore looks to be rebuilding from inside his organization starting with an 80M budget and making just a few modest FA signings. But not to worry, he brings 28 seasons of experience and a bunch of division titles to Hunter.
St. Louis Brew Masters (vlpratt62) formerly Tacoma Needles (heelsfan0123)
Vlpratt62 comes to Hunter withh 22 seasons under his belt but with no championships or playoff appearances to show for it. But we won't hold that against him. We all know rebuilding bad teams can take a while. And this team probably isn't going to be a winner all that quickly. This franchise only made the playoffs once back in season 4 when 13black had them in Tucson. Last season, the Needles had the worst pitching and hitting team in the NL, hands down. The Brew Masters have been active in free agency with a focus on defense. But they have a higher salary than you might think for a team who finished last in the league. At least they get the first draft pick this season.
Montgomery Mastodons (hooner65) formerly Memphis Redemption (tropicana)
Ever since echwippe's Bad Boys skipped town a couple of years ago, this franchise hasn't had a stable owner. But with hooner's 54 seasons and 5 WS tiltles, Montery is hopeful he is what this team needs. This franchise hasn't had a playoff appearance since season 2 and playing in that AL South won't make it any easier to turn this thing around. The Mastodons (prehistoric Elephant) enter season 11 with the worst hitting team in the AL. But hooner appears to have a plan. He has his player salary budget up to 105M but, so far, he hasn't spent much of that. It will be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve.
Tacoma Twilight (hbdgirl) formerly Portland Pines (gforman)
First off, I'm going to assume that hbdgirl is actually female. I know making assumptions from someone's user name is dangerous. For example, if someone didn't know better, they might think carmandjr was actually a cool gear head (Car-Man) with an awesome muscle car. But in reality, he drives a Hyundai. Anyway, as far as I know, we have had just two female owners and they have both owned the same franchise. Yes, this is the former Velvet Vultures squad which was run by eclipse33. Eclipse is another owner who has had success in other worlds but could not get anything going in Hunter. She never had a winning season here and this franchise has never made a playoff appearance. Hbdgirl is relatively new to HBD (10 seasons) but she already has a WS trophy and 4 division titles. Already this season, the Twilight was able to attract a couple good young free agent hitters to their city (J.R. Kennedy and Gaylord Anderson). Of all the new teams , this is my pick to win the most ML games.
Iowa City Hawkeyes (soxrule65 aka kevbo65) formerly Hartford The Wale (rabenjamin77)
I'm concerned about this team. How is Iowa City going to attract any big-name free agents with those ugly hats? Soxrule65 comes to Hunter with 17 years of experience and a gaudy .560 winning percentage. Iowa's obvious need is pitching as they finished nearly last in the AL in almost every pitching category. And that's exactly what Sox attacked in free agency. He signed several pitchers and two catchers with very high pitch calls. He also traded for a couple hitters. It looks like Iowa City is trying to win at the ML level now. Maybe I was wrong about the hats.
Burlington Federalists (jdbkaput) formerly Kansas City Knights (jag884)
Thankfully for me, jdbkaput left the NL North after season 7. His St. Louis Clydesdales won our division every season he was there (7). Jdbkaput quit HBD because he took a new job and was moving across country. Stupid real life. But now that he's settled, he makes his return to HBD in Hunter's AL North. Jbd took over the AL's worst team last season and a franchise that has never made the playoffs. Even though he signed a bunch of older guys in free agency, he didn't spend a whole lot of money on them. He even signed his former ace (and mine), Shawn Owen to what has got to be his final contract. The Federalists also traded a few ML guys for prospects. Don't expect big things from jbd's big league team this year but give him time and his divisions-mates will be hoping he moves to Alaska.
Other Notes:
Bkdries moved his franchise from Burlington to Philadelphia. They are still nicknamed the Black Sox, though, despite their colors being burgundy and mustard.
Baldric changed his nickname from one thing I didn't understand (TCB) to another thing I don't understand (Ring to Rule Them All). The team still plays in San Juan, though. The fans believed the old nickname was cursed.
Speaking of returning teams, I counted which season's new recruits has the most active returns since Hunter started. Needless to say, season 1 has the best retention rate (11 teams) but I was rather surprised to see which season ranked second...We still have 4 owners from season 7's class (beerman324, randyrossrac, carmandjr, firedock). Third place goes to season 2's class from which we have 3 owners. We have nobody left from seasons 6 and 8. I don't know what any of this means but that has never stopped me from posting on the blog before.
What was I talking about? Oh, yes. The new folk. All of these new owners are taking over not so good teams so it's not going to be a cakewalk for any of them. Who will turn their team into a winner first? Let's meet them:
Syracuse Coureurs Des Bois (beesore) formerly Helena Hashies (tbook)
Sheesh, never before did one of these silly write-ups turn into a history lesson. If, like me, you did not take French in highschool, A coureur des bois (runner of the woods) was an individual who engaged in the fur trade without permission from the French authorities in North America in the 17th century (or so says wikipedia). Phew. Thinking is hard. Anyway, this is the franchise that one of our originators, tbook, dropped last season. As successful as tbook has been in HD, he could never quite get his Hunter team rolling. He never won a division title and never proceeded far in the playoffs. Beesore looks to be rebuilding from inside his organization starting with an 80M budget and making just a few modest FA signings. But not to worry, he brings 28 seasons of experience and a bunch of division titles to Hunter.
St. Louis Brew Masters (vlpratt62) formerly Tacoma Needles (heelsfan0123)
Vlpratt62 comes to Hunter withh 22 seasons under his belt but with no championships or playoff appearances to show for it. But we won't hold that against him. We all know rebuilding bad teams can take a while. And this team probably isn't going to be a winner all that quickly. This franchise only made the playoffs once back in season 4 when 13black had them in Tucson. Last season, the Needles had the worst pitching and hitting team in the NL, hands down. The Brew Masters have been active in free agency with a focus on defense. But they have a higher salary than you might think for a team who finished last in the league. At least they get the first draft pick this season.
Montgomery Mastodons (hooner65) formerly Memphis Redemption (tropicana)
Ever since echwippe's Bad Boys skipped town a couple of years ago, this franchise hasn't had a stable owner. But with hooner's 54 seasons and 5 WS tiltles, Montery is hopeful he is what this team needs. This franchise hasn't had a playoff appearance since season 2 and playing in that AL South won't make it any easier to turn this thing around. The Mastodons (prehistoric Elephant) enter season 11 with the worst hitting team in the AL. But hooner appears to have a plan. He has his player salary budget up to 105M but, so far, he hasn't spent much of that. It will be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve.
Tacoma Twilight (hbdgirl) formerly Portland Pines (gforman)
First off, I'm going to assume that hbdgirl is actually female. I know making assumptions from someone's user name is dangerous. For example, if someone didn't know better, they might think carmandjr was actually a cool gear head (Car-Man) with an awesome muscle car. But in reality, he drives a Hyundai. Anyway, as far as I know, we have had just two female owners and they have both owned the same franchise. Yes, this is the former Velvet Vultures squad which was run by eclipse33. Eclipse is another owner who has had success in other worlds but could not get anything going in Hunter. She never had a winning season here and this franchise has never made a playoff appearance. Hbdgirl is relatively new to HBD (10 seasons) but she already has a WS trophy and 4 division titles. Already this season, the Twilight was able to attract a couple good young free agent hitters to their city (J.R. Kennedy and Gaylord Anderson). Of all the new teams , this is my pick to win the most ML games.
Iowa City Hawkeyes (soxrule65 aka kevbo65) formerly Hartford The Wale (rabenjamin77)
I'm concerned about this team. How is Iowa City going to attract any big-name free agents with those ugly hats? Soxrule65 comes to Hunter with 17 years of experience and a gaudy .560 winning percentage. Iowa's obvious need is pitching as they finished nearly last in the AL in almost every pitching category. And that's exactly what Sox attacked in free agency. He signed several pitchers and two catchers with very high pitch calls. He also traded for a couple hitters. It looks like Iowa City is trying to win at the ML level now. Maybe I was wrong about the hats.
Burlington Federalists (jdbkaput) formerly Kansas City Knights (jag884)
Thankfully for me, jdbkaput left the NL North after season 7. His St. Louis Clydesdales won our division every season he was there (7). Jdbkaput quit HBD because he took a new job and was moving across country. Stupid real life. But now that he's settled, he makes his return to HBD in Hunter's AL North. Jbd took over the AL's worst team last season and a franchise that has never made the playoffs. Even though he signed a bunch of older guys in free agency, he didn't spend a whole lot of money on them. He even signed his former ace (and mine), Shawn Owen to what has got to be his final contract. The Federalists also traded a few ML guys for prospects. Don't expect big things from jbd's big league team this year but give him time and his divisions-mates will be hoping he moves to Alaska.
Other Notes:
Bkdries moved his franchise from Burlington to Philadelphia. They are still nicknamed the Black Sox, though, despite their colors being burgundy and mustard.
Baldric changed his nickname from one thing I didn't understand (TCB) to another thing I don't understand (Ring to Rule Them All). The team still plays in San Juan, though. The fans believed the old nickname was cursed.
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