Adventures in Fake Baseball

[seawolf17]

Started an Out of the Park Baseball Mets franchise mode in 1992, to rewrite a little history. Well, it's 1998, and this happened in a May game against the Pirates:

Top 11th: Mark Thompson pitching for Pirates. 6-6.
LF Chad Curtis: double
2B Craig Biggio (acquired in 1992 in a Bonilla/Murray trade): single, Curtis to 3rd.
1B John Olerud: walk
PH John Flaherty (for Benitez): walk, RBI (7-6 Mets)
C Todd Hundley: grand slam, 4 RBI (11-6 Mets)
3B Edgar Martinez (acquired in 1992 in a Gooden/Sid/HoJo trade): single
RF Jacob Cruz (1995 1st round pick): walk
CF Kenny Lofton (acquired in spring 1998 for Lance Johnson): single
SS Damion Easley (acquired in July 1994 with Flaherty for Rick Reed, Mackey Sasser, and Jeff McKnight): single, RBI (12-6 Mets)
Curtis: walk, RBI (13-6 Mets)
Biggio: grand slam, 4 RBI (17-6 Mets)
--pitching change--
Olerud: single
Flaherty: flyout
Hundley: home run, 2 RBI (his second of the inning - 19-6 Mets)
Martinez: groundout
Cruz: HBP
Lofton: groundout

13 runs, 9 hits in the top of the eleventh inning. Three home runs, including two grand slams and two from Hundley. Todd had a 3-3-3-8 line on the day, plus three walks. Biggio, leading off, had 5-5-3-4 line, plus two walks. (Nine Pirates pitchers walked a combined thirteen batters that day.) Poor Mark Thompson, who took the brunt of the damage, saw his ERA jump from 5.79 to 10.35, giving up eleven ER in an inning and a third.

[Edgy MD]

I liked that you continued the Mets-in-the-90s tradition of trading centerfielders for centerfielders.

Can OotP test players for PEDs and suspend them if they are found guilty?

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: Can OotP test players for PEDs and suspend them if they are found guilty?

Only if the owners can talk somebody else into holding the cup.
(Are there owners? Is this like strat or fantasy baseball?)

Later

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

I thought this thread was going to be about the American League.

[seawolf17]

No steroids, although I'm playing OOTP11, and OOTP13 was released this spring; I wouldn't be surprised if the most current version has steroids.

It's a PC computer game. You can start at any year in history; I figured post-Straw would be a logical place to start. My first order of business? Re-acquire Straw. Took relatively little to pry his huge salary away from LA, actually: traded Tom Filer (threw 8 innings for LA in '92 then retired), Mike Birkbeck (threw 8 innings for LA over the 92-93 seasons, then spent three seasons in the minors and retired after an 0-12, 7.84 season in which he also somehow saved 26 games in AA), and Rodney McCray (spent 1992 bouncing around the league on waivers, then retired).

Straw's still active in this world in 1998. He became a free agent after 1995 (.251/46/139), and signed with Toronto for four years, $21 million. Toronto, apparently not impressed (.167/4/11 in 72 AB), dealt him to Pittsburgh. (He was on the DL for the above-mentioned game.) Went .252/29/68 in 322 AB in 1997 (injury), though, so he's still got it. Currently has 490 career home runs.

[seawolf17]

June 26, 2000: Mets at Reds

Bottom 9th: Mets 9, Cincinnati 2. Pitching for Mets: Bill Wertz
Hamelin: BB
Greer: E1
Greene: groundout to SS (1 out)
Whitaker (PH): single, 2 RBI (9-4)
Knoblauch: single
Spencer: single, RBI (9-5)
Rolen: K (2 out)
pitching change: Pedro Martinez
Jones: double, 2 RBI (9-7)
Johnson: HR, 2 RBI (9-9)
Hamelin: single (Relaford PR)
Greer: F8

Top 10th: Mets 9, Cincinnati 9. Pitching for Reds: Steve Foster
Easley: 5-3
McEwing: single
Halter (PH): K
Biggio: single
Beltran: single
Floyd: HR, 4 RBI (13-9)
pitching change: Dennys Reyes
Hundley: K

Bottom 10th: Mets 13, Cincinnati 9. Pitching for Mets: Steve Kline
Greene: 6-3
Reyes: K
Knoblauch: BB
Spencer: single
pitching change: Armando Benitez
Rolen: BB
Jones: single, 2 RBI (13-11)
Johnson: single, RBI (13-12)
Wilkins (PH): double, RBI, Johnson thrown out at home (13-13)

Top 11th: Mets 13, Cincinnati 13. Pitching for Reds: Dennys Reyes
Delgado: double
Olerud: 4-3, Delgado to third
Easley: SF, RBI (14-13)
McEwing: F7

Bottom 11th: Mets 14, Cincinnati 13. Pitching for Mets: Armando Benitez
Greer: double
Greene: double, RBI (14-14)
Reyes: K
Knoblauch: single, RBI

FINAL SCORE: Reds 15, Mets 14

[Edgy MD]

I hoped you traded the pen after the game.

I find in this game that backup infielders who show any utility make great trade chips.

[seawolf17]

I'm Valentinian in my desire for position flexibility on my roster. My starting lineup right now is rock-solid, but everyone on my bench can play at least two positions.

My pitching staff has been odd this year. Returned the whole cast from last season, when they were amazing, but have been all over the place this year. Signed Billy Wagner to a five-year extension, then he threw one pitch that night and gave up a walkoff home run.

[Edgy MD]

Umm...

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

All CPF'ers front and center:

We need to make "This is just a terrible score Edward" a catchphrase for IGT's and anywhere else we can use it.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That's almost as good as "What's the frequency, Kenneth?"

[Fman99]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: All CPF'ers front and center: We need to make "This is just a terrible score Edward" a catchphrase for IGT's and anywhere else we can use it.

[TransMonk]

Sounds like an admonishment Hernandez would give.


That is just a terrible score Edward.

[metirish]

Hilarious....image saved

[Edgy MD]

I'd love tell you I wasn't really trying. I sincerely was, but falling asleep with your finger on the intentional walk button is almost always a bad strategy.

[Guest themetfairy]

I recognize that photo

[Edgy MD]

TransMonk wrote: Sounds like an admonishment Hernandez would give. That is just a terrible score Edward.

Does Keith keep two Keith cards behind him on the wall of the booth?

[seawolf17]

The one on the left is Bob Ojeda, the right is Keith's All-Star card. Both from the 1986 Topps set.

[TransMonk]

The one on the left is Bob Ojeda's 1986 Topps cards from the Red Sox.

OE: Doh...1 minute too late.

[Edgy MD]

It just gets more and more depressing.

[seawolf17]

Brought up the Wright/Reyes combo to start the 2004 season. Reyes batting eighth, Wright second. (Carlos Beltran established as our leadoff hitter already.)

Opening Day: Top of the eleventh inning, Reyes leads off with a double. Two batters later, Wright doubles him in. Floyd then drives in Wright; Mets win 6-4.

Game 2: Top of the eleventh inning, Reyes leads off with a single, steals second. Two batters later, Wright singles him in. Floyd then drives in Wright; Mets win 6-4.

Bizarre.

[Edgy MD]

This might help our cause, 'cept it happened in the offseason.

[metsmarathon]

i just downloaded iOOTP13 for my iphone. a steal at $4.95.

i decided to run this current season and see what happens. it starts off on march 31, and marcum is on the dl - he still has about 4 weeks till he can come off, along with johan santana, out for hte year. so i've basically got he same starting point as the real mets.

my rotation, however, is slightly different.

1. harvey
2. niese
3. gee
4. hefner
5. wheeler. yup. computer thought he was a better play than laffey, and who am i to argue. i've still got laffey in the pen as my long reliever.

so the first game, ike has already mashed a homer, and harvey is cruising through 5, with a homer allowed and 7 k's. he's on first after a fielder's choice. colin cowgill hits a grounder, and harvey tries to take the extra base. slides into third and... injured! laffey comes in and ultimately gives up 4 in the 8th. it was a very metsian start to my season. harvey is out 6-8 weeks with a strained pcl. in the meantime, i've brought up montero. we'll see how that goes.

i love that this is on the iphone. love love love. i don't really have time to sit in front of my home computer all that much, but i've always got my phone. and now, i know what i will always be doing with my phone.

[Edgy MD]

Santana made it to opening day for me. He started and threw five dazzling innings and walked off the field. Out for 4-5 months. I'm going to guess OotP's programmers were not very bullish on his health.

Harvey is my top starter... for St. Lucie. Wheeler passed him last year and is a solid fixture in my MLB rotation.

Dickey, while he was winning the Cy Young Award last year in real life, was walking the planet for me after getting a two-year pre-emptive extension. Now I can't trade him for magic beans.

[nymr83]

metsmarathon wrote: i just downloaded iOOTP13 for my iphone. a steal at $4.95. [...] i love that this is on the iphone. love love love. i don't really have time to sit in front of my home computer all that much, but i've always got my phone. and now, i know what i will always be doing with my phone.

you'll need this

[seawolf17]

Played smg in a little lunchtime Strat, 09 Mets (me) at 88 Mets (him). Santana vs Cone.

Ugly early; Cone let the first three batters of the game on, but I only scored once, on a Francoeur SF. Gregg Jefferies answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, and Kevin Elster drove in a run in the second. Then we scored four in the top of the third on a leadoff walk and six singles. Jefferies homered in the bottom to make it 5-3 at the end of the third.

The offenses quieted down for a while. Cone struck out eleven in seven innings and left down 5-3, but then Randy Myers left the barn door open, giving up six in the top of the eighth, punctuated by a two-run HR from David Wright. I pulled Santana after five for a PH, and the bullpen of Figueroa (1.2 IP), Misch (0.1), Redding (1, with a run), and Feliciano (1) finished it out. Final score, 11-4 Oh-Niners.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

seawolf17 wrote: Final score, 11-4 Oh-Niners.

This is just a terrible score, smg.

[Edgy MD]

And this is just a terrible way to go out.

[metsmarathon]

i hope pete rose jr was not your alias in the game...

[Edgy MD]

Oh, dear me, no. And really, who flips out on the minor league franchise when he gets fired? It's not them, but the big-league overlords who pull the plug on your tenure.

I guess it's initially more engaging when they try and make it more authentic by introducing unusual and non-baseball life factors into the game's progression, but suddenly, it gets spooky. What of the actual ballplayer who might try and play and see his alternative life unfold in the game? Some guy's wife just died --- a real player, not a fictionally generated one. The alternative O's just laid Peter Angelos to rest the other day. At least he led a long alternative electronic life.