September I Sim Done

Game Date:  Sep 16 2028

Standings:
Adams:  London clinched the division.
Zotti: Seattle locked this one up long ago.
Signorino: Antelope Valley leads Maui by a single game.
Wild Card: Maui is two games ahead of Brick

Awards & Accomplishments:
Shackamaxon's Tomas Kalay hits for the cycle (9/2)
Maui's Wang-fen Tsang named Player of the Week (9/4)
Highland's Max Price named Player of the Week (9/11)

Significant Injuries:
Atlanta's Clay Burns broke a kneecap and will be out for 8-9 months, meaning he'll be out until mid-season.

Next sim:  Thursday night to finish the season.

Brick Barracudas hold team meeting

The following story made the rounds of the local newspapers...Reporter naming unknown sources reports a story of a team meeting held after the lost to the Monarchs...GM Fred Goldfarb called the team together in the locker room and said the following...I know lately we have had trouble beating teams like the Monarchs ..But i know that you are a better team then this...we are not short on talent or character...i know you want to win every game....yet we sit 3 games out with 20 to play and a tough road to go...Some of you i known for a short time and some your whole careers...I can tell you this i believe in all of you, players and coaches alike...You can go out and take the wild card and get back to the world series...You can win this thing  for the city of Brick and for our recently deceased owner Bell SR...win this for them but mostly win this for you

August II Sim Run - Welcome to September!

League Date: September 1, 2028

Standings:

• Adams Division: London leads Atlanta by 19 games and has a magic number of 2
• Signorino Division: Maui leads Antelope Valley by 1 game (magic number of 20)
• Zotti Division: Seattle clinched the division back in May
• Wild Card: Antelope Valley leads Brick by 3 games, with Appalachian 9 games back. AV's magic number to clinch the spot is 18

News:

• Shackamaxon DH Tomas Kalakay won Player of the Week (8/21)
• Maui SS Pedro Rivera won Player of the Week (8/21)
• Brick RF Salvador Velasquez had his second 5-hit game of the season (8/29)
• Houston RF John Hicks won Batter of the Month award
• Seattle SP Toyoshige Takahashi won Pitcher of the Month award
• Brooklyn RF Alejandro Aurillo won Rookie of the Month award
• Injuries:
• Shackamaxon reliever Leonard Christopher strained his hamstring, ending his rookie season
• London 1B/DH Nigel Bryant tore his ankle and will miss the rest of the season and postseason
• Brick starter Kevin Lambert tore his labrum and will be out 5-6 months
• Norfolk OF Luis Santiago will miss the rest of the season with a concussion
• Atlanta starter Takeo Hagi strained his hamstring and will miss two months
• Norfolk reliever Gregg Fiala has shoulder tendinitis and will miss four weeks
• Brick reliever Al Dougan got the unfortunate "will be diagnosed in the next sim" injury
• The odd injury of the sim belongs to Brick SS Bob Rushton, who bruised his elbow during a burglary at his home. I hope he bruised his elbow breaking the nose of the burglar

Minor Leagues:

With the minor league seasons all but finished (the Rookie League teams each have two games left), let's look at how the junior teams did this season:

• AAA: Dayton (LON) won the AAA title over Pukalani (MAU)
• AA: Hoh River (APP) won the AA title over Anchorage (HOU)
• A: Wailuku (MAU) won the A title over Buffalo (HOU)

Next sim: Next Thursday (7/28/2016). Good luck to the teams fighting for those last playoff spots! For the rest of us, the roster limit is now at 40, so give your kids some playing time.

August I Sim Done

Game Date:  Aug 15 2028

Standings:
Adams: London up by seventeen.
Zotti:  Seattle... :)
Signorino: Antelope Valley is up by four over Maui
Wild Card:  Brick is one game up on Maui

Accomplishments & Awards:
Seattle's Sung-heun Hwa named Player of the Week (7/17)
Appalachian's Guillermo Medina gets six hits in a game (7/23)
Maui's Juan Alvarez named Player of the Week (7/24, fourth career award)
Brooklyn's Arthur Cain named Player of the Week (7/31, third career award, second this season)
Maui's Juan Alvarez named Batter of the Month
Seattle's Toyoshige Takahashi named Pitcher of the Month
Shackamaxon's Benjamin Anderson named Rookie of the Month (second award)
Seattle C Steve Jones named Player of the Week (8/7, second career award)
London's Miguel Angel Ramirez named Player of the Week (8/14, second career award).

Significant Injuries:
Houston, Adrian Sanchez, done for the year, ruptured tendon
Maui, Mark Richards, done for the year, shoulder inflammation.
Seattle, Manuel Jaimes, year over, torn ankle ligaments.
Brick, Larry McCormick, 6-7 weeks, quad strain
Highland, Arturo Zavala, season over, bone chips in elbow.
Maui, Antonio Venet, 6 weeks, herniated disc
Antelope Valley, Peppino Rondinelli, 4 weeks, fractured thumb.
Shackamaxon, Juan Arroyo, 2-3 weeks, strained hip flexor
Maui, Juan Guerrera, 2-3 herniated disc
Brooklyn, Katsuhiko Jouda, fractured rib, 3-4 weeks
Shackamaxon, Alejandro Baez, bone chips in elbow, 8 weeks

and the award for the best injury of the sim goes to...

Maui 2B Juan Gonzales, who developed a sore elbow when he fell off of a bull at a rodeo.  He'll be out for two weeks.

Milestones:
London's Jonathan Anderson reached 300 HR.

Next sim:  Next Thursday night.

Seattle Takes Reliever Off Shackamaxon's Relieved Hands

"I kinda felt bad for the guy," said Seattle Owner/GM Mack Shultz. "Michael was begging and pleading with the league to take some of his relievers off his hands. I'm a soft touch, so I caved."

In the deal, Seattle acquired AAA reliever Kwang-sub Kim as depth in case of injury. To make the trade, Seattle sent Shackamaxon a fifth-round pick and, in exchange, received Shackamaxon's seventh-round pick.

"Also, it had been a while since we made a deal with Shackamaxon," continued Shultz. "He's been making a bunch of deals with other owners and I felt a little left out. It's like I'm not Michael's favorite trading partner now. I had to do something to breathe new life into our close relationship, and a date night seemed inappropriate."

Last call for Lenape

This is just a reminder that I'm eager and motivated to trade valuable and experienced assets this trading season. If you need an extra bullpen arm (who doesn't?), then please consider Tony Dominguez, Rick Taylor, Edgardo Rodriguez, or Kwang-Sub Kim.

Thank you for your time.

Brick sells draft pick to Shackamaxon

The Shackamaxon Lenape issued a terse press release late Saturday night to fulfill the league's obligation to announce all trades:

"Brick has given us their 15th round pick in 2029 in exchange for $15,000 cash."

As rumors spread throughout the Delaware Valley, fans of both teams wondered about the trade. Was it related to the unusual dowry paid two years ago for Fred's daughter? Is Brick investing in real estate inside of Shackamaxon's home market?

Only time will tell...

July II Sim Done

The sim's done, but it's late and, frankly, with the news out of Dallas right now, I'm just not up to writing a summary at the moment.  I'll do it over the weekend.

Next sim (and the trading deadline):  Next Thursday night.

Seattle-Norfolk Trade Part XVLCIII

Seattle today sent AA outfield prospect Guan-xiu Tien and $12,000,000 in cash in small, unmarked bills to Norfolk today in exchange for the return of Seattle's second-round pick in next year's draft.

"We saw that Norfolk was going to end the year with a cash flow problem," said Seattle Owner/GM Mack Shultz. "I wasn't surprised by that, given the league's wacky economics. I mean, even ESPN Seattle is ripping off the Monarchs. They've paid us almost $70M less this year for the TV rights than we had previously agreed. You'd better believe they'll be hearing from our lawyers.

"Where was I? Oh yeah, the trade. Anyway, thanks to some frugal decisions, we had some extra cash that would have been seized by the communists at the league office thanks to their beloved 'cash cap.' I thought we could find a way to work something out that would keep Norfolk in the black and help everyone. I mean, Tien's no world beater, but he's young and has some potential and should be able to step into the starting line-up for Norfolk's AA squad."

In the background of the press conference, two Monarchs front office employees known only as Walter and Skyler were seen preparing the cash for shipment to Norfolk.

Jul I Sim Done

Game Date:  Jul 15 2028

Standings:
Adams: London up by sixteen (??!!)
Zotti:  Seattle leads Brick by seventeen.
Signorino:  Antelope Valley's lead over Maui cut to six games.
Wild Card:  Brick is seven games ahead of Maui.

Awards & Accomplishments:
Seattle 2B Norman Kuhn named Player of the Week (7/3, second career award)
Shackamaxon CF Benjamin Anderson named Player of the Week (7/10)

Significant Injuries:
Highland CF Cale Page has a fractured hand and will miss about 4 weeks.
Shackamaxon SP Juan Santiago injured himself on his major league debut with a shoulder inflammation.  He's done for the year.
Shackamaxon RP Hector Estrada is done for the year and next year is in jeopardy as well.  He ruptured his UCL and is out for 12-13 months.
Highland will be without LF Ismael Rodriguez for two months with a torn hamstring.
Atlanta 2B German Morin is done for the year with a torn posterior cruciate ligament.   He might not be back in time for Opening Day next season, as he'll need 8-9 months recovery time.
Antelope Valley is going to miss CF Petero Hokualohi for four weeks due to a herniated disc.

Milestones:
Norfolk's Masahide Ueda reached 1000 RBI.

Answer to Last Week's Trivia Questions:
Who was the only pitcher to face Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle?
Al Benton, who made his major league debut with the Philadelphia A's in 1934 and finished his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1952.

As for the bonus question, I have to admit that the question is a bit of a trick question.  The two players drafted by the Royals in 1979 and went on to become Hall of Famers are these guys.

This Week's Trivia Question:
Every person who has played major league baseball in the 1930s is deceased -- with one exception.  Who is it?

Notes:  OOTP 17 is still available for 50% off ($19.99).  Since we're moving to that version after the season, it might be a good idea to pick it up now while it's on sale.


Next Sim:  Thursday night.  The next sim will go to July 30, giving us an extra week before the trading deadline.