Baseball Night in America Atlanta Stonecutters vs NY Rippers

ATLANTA STONECUTTERS(22-20)VS NEW YORK RIPPERS(32-10).

GAME TIME 9:15 PM EASTERN

STADIUM: WRIGGLY FIELD

MANAGERS

ATLANTA STONECUTTERS: CRAIG LOPACINSKI

NEW YORK RIPPERS: BILLY HOBBS

STONECUTTERS LAST 10 GAMES: 5-5

Hitters in the last 110 games hitting .241 

Pitcher have a 4.25 ERA in the last 10 games.

RIPPERS LAST 10 GAMES: 6-4

Hitters in the last 10 games hitting .242

Pitchers have a 3.51 ERA in the last 10 games.

The revamped, power hitting (and not much else) Stonecutters come to Wriggly Field and take on the leagues best team. While in the last 10 games the teams seem evenly matched hitting .241 and .242 as a team. The Stonecutters have a ERA of 4.25 in the last 10 games, which is surprisingly better than there season ERA of 4.55. In the past 2 weeks the 'Cutter Crew has gone through a bunch of roster changes sending away 2 starters in Maddux, and Willis, and also Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter, along with big bat Barry Bonds. They did pick up Brad Penny, and Roy Oswalt to try and make up for the departures. They also picked up two power bats in Adam Dunn and Andruw Jones.

On the Rippers side Coach and GM Hobbs thought they needed to bolster an already impressive bullpen. They shipped out outfielder Matt Holiday for Francisco Rodriguez. Coach Hobbs hopes to make it a 5 inning game for his starters then let the bullpen do it's job. 

Can the Stonecutters walk away with an important series win to get back into the race? Be sure to tune in.

First pitch is at 8:15 pm eastern.   

4 years of Derek Jeter a retrospective

Now that we have 4 seasons of history to look at in the Millennium League (MBL) I thought it might be interesting to take a look at how one players real life stats compared with our Dynasty league. When I came up with this idea for a post I knew right away that I didn't want it to be a player that I have owned on my team, or that I really liked when said player played. I thought for a while and Derek Jeter's name kept popping in my head. For some reason for me Jeter never was one of those stand out players for me. Everyone seemed to love him, specially Yankee fans, but to me he was just a shortstop on the "Evil Empire" Yankees squad. We are not really here to debate whether or not Jeter was any good when he played. We are here to compare real life vs Dynasty life.

Mike C the creator of the crazy baseball simulator we all love to hate, and love again, prides his game to be one of the most realistic baseball games on the market. He goes through each player stats and puts outcomes based on dice rolls 0-999. He has done this for many years, and we always wonder if he got it right when our big bopper clutch player comes to the plate only to strikeout. When asked Mike and any other stat head with say "meh, small sample, it happens."

Real Life	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2000	148	593	119	201	31	4	15	73	68	99	22	4	0.339	0.416	0.481

Dyansty	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2000	160	681	109	220	34	6	15	80	75	134	18	6	0.323	0.394	0.457

2000 season Dynasty's 1st year. Boy if I only knew what I knew now. Anyway, Jeter was taken #9 in the first round of the 2000 draft by the Minnesota Millers. Derek had more Runs, and more stolen bases in real life than his Dynasty counterpart. However, Jeter played 12 more games in Dynasty than real life, and those 12 games show up in his numbers in Dynasty. AB's (+88), hits(+10), doubles(+3), triples(+2), RBI's(+7), walks(+7), and strikeouts(+35).  While Jeters numbers for the most part went up, he became a less efficient card for Walt. His AVG was down, OBP down, and SLG down. I would have to say to have gotten the most out of Jeter that year Walt should have maybe sat Jeter more than playing in 160 games. I'm not crying for Walt as Jeter had a fine year in the MBL, I'm just pointing out that due to his increased usage his numbers fell. I'm thinking Jeter must of had some small injury that year in real life hence the "C" injury rating on his card.

Conclusion: UNDER PREFORM CARD

2001

Real Life	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2001	150	614	110	191	35	3	21	74	56	99	27	3	0.311	0.377	0.480

Dyansty	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2001	159	656	106	200	48	7	16	75	58	137	26	9	0.305	0.371	0.473

2001 our second season. Walt got his wish and got to draft the mighty Albert Poljos for his squad with the number one pick overall. As the 2001 season got under way Jeter was having a horrible start only hitting .169 in 21 games. That was enough for Walt to pull the trigger and send Jetter packing to NY and the Bombers. Jetter played 84 games for the Bombers when "Crazy Trading" Larry sent him to the land of misfit toys Milwaukee. Where Jeter still resides to this day. Jeter had more AB's, Hits, Doubles, Triples, RBI's, Walks, and Strikeouts in Dynasty than in real life. This time Jeter only had 9 more games played in Dynasty than in real life. However, Jeter's card did not live up to expectations again it the AVG, OBP, and SLG categories. Only 2 more walks in Dynasty than real life (hurt the OBP), and looking at how many more doubles he had in Dynasty I thought for sure his SLG would have been greater in Dynasty. Again all 3 stats were worse than his card.

Conclusion: UNDER PREFORMING CARD

Real Life	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2002	157	644	124	191	26	0	18	75	73	114	32	3	0.297	0.373	0.421

Dyansty	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2002	161	662	112	173	23	0	11	53	72	137	43	14	0.261	0.339	0.346

2002: Things were not good for Jeter in Milwaukee in 2002. Not much on the roster at that time could him him and his numbers. However, this is where Dynasty has it's doubters. While his numbers were down across the board his AVG and OBP really stand out to me. Those are not numbers depending on who is on base or who is behind them in the order. Jeters average plummeted to .261 from real life number of .297. That is a big drop! He also struckout a heck of a lot more with 137 K's on the year. Looking at the card and seeing the 2002 season results Mike C must have screwed up this card, bad.

Conclusion: WAY UNDER PREFORMING CARD

Real Life	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2003	119	482	87	156	25	3	10	52	43	88	11	5	0.324	0.393	0.450

Dyansty	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2003	142	603	109	184	31	4	14	53	43	137	12	6	0.305	0.366	0.439

On to the last year of 2003.

This is another year where Jeter played in a lot more games in Dynasty than in real life (142-119). So, all his individual numbers may look higher than real life, but Jeter was worse in the averages department. What did I really learn about do this exercise? Jeter is a strikeout monster. and in Dynasty that shows up all the time. Jeter's average while over .300 for the Dynasty league was down almost 20 points from real life, also his OBP was down almost 30 points. 

Conclusion: ANOTHER UNDER PERFORMING CARD   

While some of Jeters individual numbers were close to the real life numbers that Jeter put up, his averages were way off and down. When I look at my team the Stonecutters I get impatient. What have you done for me lately syndrome. I was hoping by doing this post it would teach me to be more patient when evaluating players. Now it just makes me think that long time players with good stats through out their career are going to under preform. It was my case with Scott Rolen, now Jason Kendall, and a few others. If I can get the player to perform close to their real life numbers I'm a happy man. It's get frustrating when they don't produce those number over a season.  

Let me know over email or in the comments below what players you feel fit in this situation for your team or you've noticed on someones team.  

  

Your 2004 Atlanta Stoncutters so far..12 games in.

Okay, okay I know it's only 12 games, but I'm bored so I thought I would take a look at what the Stonecutters have done so far in 12 games. As of this writing we are 6-6, and I can say a little dissapointed in the team so far.  I do not see my team as a bunch of All-Stars but I thought we would be quite a bit over the .500 mark by now. So, lets take a look at the slow starters or "Rolenites" as I like to call them.

 1. Jason Kendall C. I have/had high hopes for Jason this year, as he is a good hitter and his defense is better than his 2003 campaign. Jason hit .319/.399/.390 in 2003, and as you can see below the first 11 games were not even close to those numbers. Jason has started slow for me last year as well, and I pretty sure he'll come around.  I'm just looking for high AVG, and OBP out of him.

Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG

Kendall, Jason

11

41

4

9

2

0

0

3

3

4

0

1

.220

.289

.268

2. Lew Ford OF. I was SO excited to get the season started just to get to play with Fords card.  High AVG, High OBP, and fast. leadoff guy all day long. 1st AB of the season he drew a walk. I was like "alright, here we go!" As everyone knows the dice gods don't like certain players. Ford might be one of those guys, or the computer just has it out for me. 2004 real life Ford slash line was, .299/.381/.446 with 20 steals, B power facing LH's. Well so far 12 games in we are looking at a very pathetic .219 with a SLG % of .281 and has been caught stealing twice already where he was only caught twice all year round in real life. 

Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG

Ford, Lew

12

32

6

7

0

1

0

4

6

5

2

2

.219

.333

.281

3. Chipper Jones 3B. Last in year in 2003 Chipper wasn't all that after I acquired him, however he totally redeemed himself by hitting a walk off home run against Detroit in the playoffs. Chipper has an off year for real in 2004 so I wasn't expecting a lot of offensive production from him this year. Slash line of .248/.362/.485. As we see below Chipper is getting on base with walks, but he can not hit the ball to save his life. his AVG and SLG is a killer.

Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG

Jones, Chipper

12

39

6

7

2

0

0

2

10

7

0

0

.179

.347

.231

It is a long season, but I just wanted to get this down somewhere so I can go back and see how/if these player are true "Rolenites" or they just started off really slow. My next blog I will talk about the HOT players on my team, hopefully have some time here soon to get that done. What players on your team let us know in the comments or via email.

A quick look at the 2004 Atlanta Stonecutters

Well here we are just a few hours away from the Stonecutters 1st series of the the season against the Washington Senators. Ownership is looking forward to another great season in Cutter country. Gone are the likes of first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, Ellis Burks, Marlon Byrd, and Mark Prior. Added are the talents of Lew Ford, the Alomar Brothers (Roberto and Sandy), Mike Sweeney, John Olerud, and Pitcher Russ Ortiz. The team will be anchored by last years reigning MVP Barry Bonds who promises to put up even better numbers than last year (famous last words).

With the change of the roster also come change in a new ballpark. Stonecutter Park (Miller Park) looks to be a hitters paradise, which could be bad news for the pitching staff, but good for guys like Barry Bonds, Torii Hunter, Mike Sweeney, and Chipper Jones.

Here's to a great 2004 season and lets bring home a World Series title!

Retrospective: Scott Rolen 2001-2003

So, I made the decision to move Scott Rolen in a trade the other week. Many of you know the problems I had with Scott under-performing from his card stats. I really, really liked Scott, and kept waiting for his time to break out. 75 games into the 2001 season I traded for Rolen with the NY Rippers. I sent another long time favorite Vlad to NY for Scott. At the time Scott was really not doing well for the Rippers and Billy had enough.

Scott came and finished the 2001 season for the Stonecutters with the following line:

Year	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2001	87	327	64	101	25	2	16	58	47	85	15	5	0.309	0.400	0.544

Man, I thought I hit the jackpot! Rolen was rollen  in Atlanta, and couldn't wait for 2002 to come around as hit card got even better than 2001.  2002 I had a stronger team, and with the addition of Rolen I thought I would be able to take the division. Well, I came in 2nd place cause the Tribe had a great team I was not expecting. Rolen gave the Stonecutters the following production.

Year

G

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

SB

CS

BA

OBP

SLG

2002

162

600

95

127

22

10

24

91

76

115

3

4

0.212

0.322

0.402

Ugh, everything that I hoped Rolen would be he was not. Hitting a horrible .212 with a slugging percentage of .402 was god awful. I wanted to cry. I believed that Rolen was the best third man out there in 2002 between the offensive stats and his defense. While Rolen lived up to the the defense he was way short on what was more important, offense.

As I picked up the pieces of the 2002 year looking forward to the 2003 year again my hopes for Rolen to be that middle of the order stud fell flat. 

Year

G

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

SB

CS

BA

OBP

SLG

2003

97

380

56

89

33

2

13

50

38

90

4

4

0.234

0.319

0.434

No matter where I put Scott in the lineup he did nothing. Sure he was hitting a little bit better avg, and slugging, but it wasn't enough. The one bright spot is that in 97 games he hit way more doubles than the whole year in 2002.

So I decided to end the Rolen experiment and sent him off on his way to Seattle where he seems to be enjoying it out there so far. In 6 games he's hit 2 doubles, 2 home runs and driven in 6. Good luck, Scott. I wish we had better memories, but we will always have that awesome run in 2001.