May I Sim Done

Game Date:  May 16 2030

Standings:
Adams:  Brick leads Brooklyn by five.
Zotti: Seattle's lead over Appalachian is a single game
Signorino: Philadelphia's lead over Maui stands at eight games.

Awards & Accomplishments:
Seattle 1B Hector Valera named Player of the Week (5/6)
Wilmington's Luis Santiago named Player of the Week (5/13, 2nd career award)

Significant Injuries:
Appalachian will be without RF Ed Weber for 6-7 weeks with a hamstring sprain.
Highland RP Luis Quinones has a torn laburm.  He's gone for 4-5 months.
Appalachian LF Martin Perez strained a groin muscle.  It'll cost him 2-3 weeks.
Wilmington will need a new closer with Yoshifumi Tanaka missing the next 12 months with a torn rotator cuff.
Philadelphia RP Hector Estrada is done for the year with a damaged elbow ligament.

Milestones:
Seattle's Norman Kuhn reaches 1000 runs scored.
Atlanta's Jesus Flores notched is 1000th RBI

Batting Line of the Sim:
Mepkin Abbey's Ron Wood went 3-4 with 2 HR, 2 walks, 3 runs scored and 6 RBI vs. Houston (5/4)

Pitching Line of the Sim:
Appalachian's Jose Sandoval pitched a complete game, three hit shutout vs. Atlanta, walking one and striking out ten (5/1).

Answer to Last Week's Trivia Question:
When is the only time that a team is allowed to (and, in fact, required to) skip a player's turn in the batting order (and how does such a situation come about)? 

For example, suppose Ruth is the scheduled hitter and Meusel is next in the batting order.  When Ruth's turn comes up, the manager is required to send up Meusel instead.

The answer is... if the proper batter is on base.  So, in our example, if Ruth is the scheduled batter, but he's on base, then his spot in the order is skipped and Meusel is the proper batter.

But, you might be asking.. how is it possible for the scheduled batter to be on base?  Surely, by the time his turn to bat comes around again, he'll have either scored or the inning will be over.  

The answer lies in the batting out of order rule.  There are two things that you have to keep in mind regarding the batting out of order rule:

1. The umpire may not call attention to the fact that the batter at the plate is not the proper batter.  It is the responsibility of the opposing team to keep track of the batting order.  The umpire may only take action if the other team brings it to his attention.  As such, it's possible for an improper batter to complete his turn at bat without the umpires calling him out for batting out of turn.

2. Once a pitch is thrown to the next batter, the previous out-of-order batter becomes legitimated, the current becomes the proper batter (assuming, of course, he was batter following the previous one) and the opposing team loses it's chance to appeal.  So, let's take an example, using the rule book's sample batting order of:

Abel
Baker
Charles
Daniel
Edward
Frank
George
Hooker 
Irwin.

So, let's say Daniel walks and Abel (an improper batter) comes to the plate.  The umpire, of course, says nothing.  Abel flies out and Baker comes to bat.  Once a pitch is made to Baker, Abel's at-bat is legitimated and Baker now becomes the proper batter.  Now, let's say Baker also flies out and Charles walks (or the other way around).  The proper batter is now Daniel, but he's on base.  As per the rule book, Daniel's turn is skipped and Edward becomes the proper batter.


This Week's Trivia Question:
The following list of people have something in common.  They (and two others) are the only members of this group.  What do they have in common and who are the two missing members of the group?

Frankie Frisch
Jimmy Rollins
Mickey Mantle
Chipper Jones
Maury Wills
Ken Caminiti
Willie McGee
Terry Pendleton.

Philadelphia/Antelope Valley trade

The resurgent Philadelphia Hornets and rebuilding Antelope Valley Raptors met up in Tradeland today, with the Raptors acquiring a pair of prospects in exchange for ace starter Yorikane Kichikawa.

Heading west from the Philadelphia system are AAA infielder Millard Peterson (the #62 prospect in the game, per the OSA) and A pitcher Angelo Vargo.

Kichikawa, who is scheduled to be a free agent after this season, will help lead the Hornets back towards the postseason, joining Alejandro Baez, Juan Santiago, and John Ryan in the suddenly dominant Philadelphia rotation.

April II Sim Done

Game Date:  May 1 2017

Standings:  
Adams:  Brick leads Brooklyn by four games
Zotti: Seattle is four games ahead of Appalachian
Signorino:  Philadelphia has a five game lead over Maui

Awards & Accomplishments:
Brick's Martin Cox named Player of the Week (4/22)
Brooklyn OF Alejandro Aurillo named Player of the Week (4/29, 2nd career award)
Wilmington RF Matt Young named Rookie of the Month
Appalachian LHP Joong-guen Yi named Pitcher of the Month
Seattle C Steve Jones named Batter of the Month (3rd career award)

Significant Injuries:
Wilimington 2B Bill O'Neil has a strained groin and is out for about three weeks.
Highland 2B Mark Cannon strained a hamstring and will miss three weeks
Wilmington's Jose Vega will be out for 2-3 months with a strained hamstring.
Antelope Valley's Angel Banuelos will be riding the pine for six weeks recovering from a strained oblique.
Philadelphia will be without Ieyasu Suzuki for 8-9 weeks with a torn meniscus.
Wilmington's Li Matthews is done for the year with a torn UCL.  He'll miss 11 months.

Batting Line of the Sim
Seattle's Steve Jones went 4-5 with a home run, 4 runs scored and 5 RBI vs. Brooklyn, 4/23

Pitching Line of the Sim:
Appalachian's  Joong-guen Yi pitched seven innings of three-hit, shutout ball, striking out eleven and walking one vs. Mepkin Abbey, 4/27

Milestones: None

Answer to Last Week's Trivia Question:
When Babe Ruth was caught stealing to end the 1926 World Series, Lou Gehrig was not the batter at the plate.  He did not take over the #4 spot in the lineup until the next season.  Bob Meusel was the batter at the plate.  Fred correctly answered that Lou Gehrig was in the on-deck circle.

This Week's Trivia Question:
When is the only time that a team is allowed to (and, in fact, required to) skip a player's turn in the batting order (and how does such a situation come about)?

For example, suppose Ruth is the scheduled hitter and Meusel is next in the batting order.  When Ruth's turn comes up, the manager is required to send up Meusel instead.

Next sim:  Next Wednesday.

April I Sim Done

Game Date:  Apr 16 2030

Standings:
Adams:  Brick leads Brooklyn by two games.
Zotti:  Seattle is two games ahead of Appalachian
Signorino: Philadelphia has a five game lead over Wilmington

Awards & Accomplishments:
Philadelphia 1B Javier Ortiz named Player of the Week (4/8)
Seattle C Steve Jones named Player of the Week (4/15, 3rd career award)

Significant Injuries:
Maui SS Anibal Cardova ruptured his MCL and is done for the season.
Wilmington will be without 1B Bernardo Alvarez for two months with bone edema.
Maui will also be without RF Don Jones for three weeks with a ruptured knee sprain.

Batting Line of the Sim:
Antelope Valley's Jeremy Reed went 3-4 with 2 HR, 3 runs scored and 5 RBI vs Houston (4/15)

Pitching Line of the Sim:
Brooklyn's Kieran Rose pitched 8 1/3 innings of five hit ball, giving up five hits, walking one and striking out 14 vs. Antelope Valley 4/6

Milestones:
Seattle C Steve Jones reached 1000 runs scored.

Trivia Question:
The oddest end to a World Series had to be the ending to the 1926 contest.  The Yankees and Cardinals took it to seven games.  Despite having pitched a complete game the day before, 39 year old Grover Cleveland Alexander came into the game in the seventh inning to hold the slim one run lead after starter Jesse Haines developed a blister.  Still pitching in the ninth, he got Earle Combs and Mark Koenig to both ground out to third.  That brought up the ever-dangerous Babe Ruth.  After working the count full, Alexander just missed a pitch and the Babe went down to first.

On the next pitch, Babe Ruth surprised eveyone by breaking for second base.  Bob O'Farrell, the Cardinals catcher (and NL MVP that year) threw the ball to Rogers Hornsby who put the tag on Ruth, ending the game and the series.

My question is:  who was at bat when the final out was made?  And who was on deck?

Next sim:  Next Wednesday night.

Philadelphia/Maui trade

Hours before the start of the 2030 season, new division rivals Philadelphia and Maui have completed a trade featuring major prospects. Lawrence Connolly, recently named the #7 prospect in the game, has been traded to the Philadelphia Hornets in exchange for infielder Tae-sang Pak and hotshot international pitching prospect Scott Egan.

Philadelphia will also receive Maui's 4th round pick in this June's amateur draft.

Philadelphia announces first trade

Precocious teenager Madeleine Weintraub, marketing intern, stepped to the podium at Ashburn Park, home of the Philadelphia Hornets, and looked down at her notes. Her father, Hornets GM Michael Weintraub, and grandfather, Brick GM Fred Goldfarb, stood proudly behind her.

"I'm glad to announce that Daddy and Pop-Pop have made a trade and asked me to announce it," she began. "This is the first trade we have made with our new name.

"The Hornets are sending AAA 1B Javier --." She turned around to ask her father a question about pronunciation before continuing. "Javier, Javier Cisneros and a fifth round draft pick to the Barracudas for Rookie CF Juan Romero and AA RP David Torres.

"This trade will benefit both teams, as Daddy had too many first basemen and Pop-Pop needed one. Daddy also got a prospect he really liked, as well as a pitcher he used to have last season."

Behind her, Weintraub and Goldfarb shook hands before each hugged young Madeleine.

Opening Day is Here!!

Game Date:  Apr 1 2030

Welcome to Opening Day 2030, the 29th season of SDMBOOTP Baseball.

The first sim of the season (covering the first half of April) will be next Wednesday night.

Please be sure to have your rosters in order.  You must have your active roster down to 25 players and your minor league rosters must have no more than 35 players each.  You can leave your Rookie League players where they are for now, but they will have to be moved up (or released) by the time that level's season starts, which will be on the second June sim.

Please, please, please... have your rosters ready.  Please don't be the one that causes a delay in Opening Day.  :)

Significant Injuries:

• Antelope Valley will be without starting shortstop Mario Silva for the year as he recovers from a broken bone in his elbow.
• They will also be missing 1B Jamie Alvarez as he spends the next five weeks recuperating from torn quadriceps.
• Wilmington's Ricardo Feliciano will miss about five weeks with torn meniscus.

Next sim:  Wednesday, June 14.

Seattle - Maui Trade

Maui has traded backup catcher Lonnie Draeger to Seattle in exchange for Seattle's 10th round pick in the upcoming amateur draft.

Draeger, who was traded to Maui from Seattle in October 2025, had informed the Maui front office that he wanted to test free agency next year.  With Britt Couch waiting in the wings (and without any remaining options), it seemed an appropriate time to give Couch an extended look in the majors.  Maui wishes Draeger well in his return to the Evil Empire.

Need infield help?

I have an excess of infielders capable of playing in the majors, but without room for all of them.

• Tae-Sang Pak - can start anywhere in the infield from 1B to 3B.
• Larry McCormick - future Hall of Fame 3B still in his prime.
• Ruben Noya - up-and-coming 3B who may be a steady regular or a scrub.
• Tokuma Kanno - fringe fifth infield prospect who can hit.
• Greg Ray - utility infielder who can fill in for any infielder.
• Javier Cisneros - 1B prospect who can rake. Hitting .370 with 3 HR in his first major league spring training.

Hit me up if someone catches your eye or fits a need for your team.

Sim's Done... Regular Season's Coming Up.

Game Date: Mar 25 2030

The next sim will be the last sim of Spring Training.  After that, it's Opening Day. :)

Next Sim:  Wednesday night.

Sim's Done

Game Date:  Mar 18 2030

Next sim:  Monday night.

Rain Delay

I'm delaying tonight's sim to Saturday night due to a possible issue with a team.

Zev