September 16, 2020
Who Uploaded?
Cleveland
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
New York
Ohio
Seattle
Adams: Hickory's (70-86) still leads Brooklyn by one game.
Zotti: Seattle still has a single game lead over Saskatoon.
Signorino: Maui's wrapped this division up.
Wild Card: Saskatoon's lead over Ohio has increased to six games (with six left to play).
Awards and Accomplishments:
Seattle's Jonathan Anderson hits three home runs in a game (9/7)
Maui's Angel Banuelos named Player of the Week (9/7)
Maui's Angel Banuelos hits for the cycle (9/10)
Seattle's Jonathan Anderson named Player of the Week (9/14)
Significant Injuries:
Brooklyn's Ben Beard is done for the year with a strained back muscle.
Hickory's Gustavo Silva is done for the year with a fractured ankle.
Saskatoon's Glen Mitchell torn his rotator cuff and is questionable for 2021 spring training.
Milestones:
Maui's Dong Lutz drove in his 1500th run, becoming the third player to do so (following Luis Jeon and Brian Frison).
Next Sim:
Next Wednesday night, when we'll finish off the regular season.
Good news:
ReplyDeleteThank you, Matt, for taking the albatross of William Lawrence's contract away from me!
My core offense has had a great season.
Bad news:
My pitching, for the most part, has been terrible. Even Junior Cuomo (whom I consider one of the best pitchers, ever, in our league) has shown signs of mortality this season.
Ricky Peppers will be losing his starting SS job this sim, which he's had since he came up in the 2007 season. If he elects to exercise his half of the option for 2021, he'll be a bench player.
Is this Hickory team the worst to ever be in first place on September 15? It has to be, right?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure it will be an albatross, Michael. My scout still likes Lawrence, notwithstanding his poor performance of late. After losing one of my best pitchers to a career-ending injury in the last sim, I figured it was worth a shot to see if he has anything left. Time will tell!
ReplyDelete2020 has been a strange year. Ohio may finish with the third-best record in the league with over 100 wins and then miss the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteFree agent castoff Luis Jeon has set the all-time single-season home run record, hitting 55 with six games to play. (Maybe I should have traded for him after all, Paul.)
Two 2017 draft picks are having some of the best seasons ever seen in the league. Houston first baseman Bryant Noble (first pick of the second round) is making a run at the venerable OPS record held by Roberto Casarez. Seattle starting pitcher Enrique Hernandez (#2 pick overall) is posting the highest VORP in version 9 history and, by my calculations, the third best season ever for a starting pitcher.
Houston was eight games back on August 24, having finished a sweep of Hickory. They were 74-61, boosted by an exciting young nucleus. Since then, the Armadillos are an astonishing 1-20. One win in twenty-one games. Even worse than Cleveland's 2-19 stretch to start July. Simply amazing.
The Adams League division title appears to be a battle between two teams to see who wants it least. Brooklyn had an amazing 0-13 sim as the division leader in late June. On August 17, Hickory had a seven-game lead and then promptly threw down a 13-game losing streak of its own, forcing an unwilling Brooklyn squad back into the race.
The biggest lead any team has had in the Zotti League race is three games. Ohio, Saskatoon, and Seattle have all been ahead by three games at different points in the season.
It's just been a strange, strange season full of very interesting quirks.
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ReplyDeleteFrank:
ReplyDeleteThe worst record ever to win a division title was Maui's 2017 squad, which was 84-78. So, yeah, I think it's safe to say this Hickory team has by far the worst record ever to be in first place this late in the year.
Matt: I meant that Lawrence's contract was an albatross around my neck. He very well could turn it around; I'm not sure why he regressed when I invested in an ace pitching coach this season. Due to some of my large contracts (Grondin, Peppers, etc.), I can't afford spending $8m on a starter who is giving me the performance that a $300k scrub could provide.
ReplyDeleteWell, he could very well be an albatross around my neck, too. Just felt I needed to take a chance, largely because I'm unsure how many starting pitchers will be available in free agency this offseason.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for Ohio and David. I think this is multiple years now that his team has been good enough to make the playoffs, if only he was in a different division.
Why am I suddenly reminded of this scene from Caddyshack:
ReplyDeleteAl Czervik: Oh, this is the worst-looking hat I ever saw. What, when you buy a hat like this I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh?
[looks at Judge Smails, who's wearing the same hat]
Al Czervik: Oh, it looks good on you though.
Do you guys really know how BADLY I want Hickory to win it all? Oh, SOOOO badly.
ReplyDeleteYou and me, both, Nate, but Hickory has to make the playoffs first.
ReplyDeleteFrank kind of stole my thunder as I wanted to ask Nate what he had against Brooklyn.
ReplyDeleteZev's been running this league a long time, Nate. Why don't you want him to win a division title and a championship? What do you have against our fearless commissioner? He's a good man and deserves a turn at the top.
Zev, I think this kind of sedition should be punished by taking away a draft pick from Nate. Maybe all of them. :)
Zev, if I win the division, I'll trade you my playoff spot for all of Nate's picks. I'm just saying.
ReplyDeleteAllow me to rephrase. It's not that I want Hickory to WIN...
ReplyDeleteIt's that I want YOU guys to LOSE.
Why don't you want him to win a division title and a championship? What do you have against our fearless commissioner? He's a good man and deserves a turn at the top.
ReplyDeleteAwww... I'm touched. :)
Anyway, I asked Michael to run tonight's sim since it's the last sim and I'm only a game behind the division leader (such as it is).
Zev