Bored

Pain killer humor aside, I'm going with the Thursday the 13th as the new draft date, still at 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST. Next tip for the game, injury ratings. When you view the Player Set Browser each position player as an injury rating from 0 to 4 which pretty much breaks down like this: 0: Player will never get injured, if you have them in your starting line up they will play all 162 games. Only seven players have this rating including Don Mattingly and, shockingly, Cal Ripken. 1: Player will rarely suffer an injury and never for an extended period of time. Players with this rating will never miss more than three games in a row and are good bets to play 150+ games if you have them in your regular line up. The majority of the players have this rating. 2: Player will sometimes be injured and probably a good idea to have a halfway decent backup for this player if they are a starter. Note most catchers have this rating. 3: Player will frequently get hurt and really can't be relied on for more than 100 games. Not too many players have this rating but a couple of good ones do including Paul Molitor and Lance Parrish. 4: Avoid at all costs as they will be out of the line up more than they are in it. Only three players have this rating, one of them being Pete Rose. Players with a 2 injury rating or higher can miss up to a maximum of 15 games in a row due to injury. Now for pitchers, they have no injury rating but they can get hurt. This is one thing I don't like about Strat-O-Matic is that pitcher injuries can be very random.

And now that the league is full, the draft order was set: 1. St.Paul Apostles 2. Boston Americans 3. Tijuana Bibles 4. Anchorage Ice Hoes 5. Moreno Valley Mattitude 6. Oakland Oaks 7. Ohio Hellraisers 8. "Bronx" "Bombers" 9. Woodside Clippers 10. Salisbury Indians 11. Hillsdale Daisies 12. Montreal Royals The draft is serpentine. Would anyone object to moving the draft up to next Wednesday or Thursday?

Still waiting to fill those final two spots so will continue to pass the time going over little things about the game. After reading the FAQ, you won't be able to pick a stadium for your team until after the draft which kinda sucks but oh well. Of course the available stadiums are all from 1986. You can find the ballpark effects for each one under the Player Set Browser of the Help section. There's four separate ratings for each park that are self explanatory, lefty/righty singles and lefty/righty homeruns. The ratings run from 1 (hardest to hit singles/homeruns) to 20 (easiest to hit singles/homeruns). Overall, Fulton County Stadium and the Metrodome are the most favorable to hitters while Olympic Stadium and the Oakland Coliseum are the most favorable to pitchers. I'm of course going to take the Oakland Coliseum but there's no way for me to keep anyone else from taking it if they want it as there doesn't appear to be anything that prevents two teams from having the same stadium. If anyone wants to stake a claim to a stadium now go ahead but you can always change your mind later.

Bracket Project Update Last Eight In UAB Florida St. Joseph's Kentucky Illinois State Maryland Massachusetts Arizona State Last Eight Out New Mexico Villanova Virginia Tech Southern Illinois Syracuse Western Kentucky Ohio State Oregon

TV Schedule for the Week of 3/3 - 3/9 MONDAY Pittsburgh at West Virginia, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN Texas Tech at #5 Kansas, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN Santa Clara at #22 Gonzaga, 11:30/8:30 PM, ESPN2 TUESDAY #15 Purdue at Ohio State, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN Miami of Ohio at Kent State, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Arkansas at Mississippi, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN WEDNESDAY #6 Duke at Virginia, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN Syracuse at Seton Hall, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Texas A&M at Baylor, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY #13 Connecticut at Providence, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN #24 Clemson at Georgia Tech, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 #8 Xavier at St. Joseph's, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN #17 Michigan State at Illinois, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 #7 Stanford at #3 UCLA, 11:00/8:00 PM, FSN SATURDAY Big South Conference Championship, 11:30/8:30 AM, ESPN2 #12 Louisville at #11 Georgetown, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS #5 Kansas at Texas A&M, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS* #7 Stanford at USC, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS* Missouri at Oklahoma, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* Georgia Tech at Boston College, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* California at #3 UCLA, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* #21 Marquette at Syracuse, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN Utah at UNLV, 4:00/1:00 PM, Versus Ohio Valley Conference Championship, 5:00/2:00 PM, ESPN2 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 #1 North Carolina at #6 Duke, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN Arizona at Oregon, 10:30/7:30 PM, FSN SUNDAY Florida at Kentucky, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS Missouri Valley Conference Championship, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS #18 Indiana at Penn State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN #15 Purdue at Michigan, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS Oklahoma State at #9 Texas, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN Maryland at Virginia, 7:30/4:30 PM, FSN West Coast Conference Semi-Final #1, 9:30/6:30 PM, ESPN2 West Coast Conference Semi-Final #2, 11:30/8:30 PM, ESPN2

Yes they are. My only quibble with Strat's defensive ratings is they will often give Gold Glover winners a "1" rating even if they clearly won the award on reputation alone.

I’ve wanted to do another one these for a while now and to tie it in with the 1986 TSM Baseball Simulation League (only two spots left, sign up today!) so figured I should pick a team from 1986 which is about as much thought as I put into picking the ’86 Texas Rangers for this entry, although they had a very interesting, young outfield. The Rangers were coming of a 99 loss season in 1985 and were fielding one of the younger teams in the league entering the ’86 season. They would spend a good portion of the first half of the season in first place in the A.L. West but lost the lead for good in early July to the eventual division champion Angels. The stayed within striking distance through most of August but the Angels were able to coast to the division crown in September. C: Don Slaught (.264/.308/.449, 14.5 VORP, 11.6 Win Shares) – Good hitting catcher but was rarely used full-time due to his poor defense. Rangers acquired him a four team deal before the ’85 season and he would be traded three more times in his career. Traded to the Yankees after the ’87 season he then signed with the Pirates in 1990 where he would have his longest tenure and best years. Signed with the Reds in 1996 but was dealt to the Angels before ever playing a game in Cincinnati, then traded in waiver deadline deal later that year to the White Sox. Signed with San Diego in 1997 but was released in May which marked the end of his career. 1B: Pete O’Brien (.290/.385/.468, 40.4 VORP, 23.9 Win Shares) – This was a career year for O’Brien during a solid four year stretch from ’83 to ’87. Rangers would trade him in a package deal to the Cleveland for Julio Franco following the ’88 season. Signed a four year deal with the Mariners after 1989 which ended up being a complete disaster for Seattle. 2B: Toby Harrah (.218/.332/.367, 3.1 VORP, 6.6 Win Shares) – Last season of a 17 year career spent primarily as a third baseman and shortstop. Had an excellent plate patience (had a career high .432 OBP at age 36 a year earlier) and hit for decent power but was very poor defensively. 3B: Steve Buechele (.243/.302/.410, 2.4 VORP, 12.2 Win Shares) – Ever have one of those players that you irrationally hated when you were younger and can’t remember why? Buechele was one of those guys for me. Pretty good defense but never much with the bat. Traded to Pittsburgh in a waiver deal in 1991 who then would trade him midseason the following year to the Cubs. Released by them in 1995, he then returned for I suppose a nostalgia return to the Texas that lasted 19 days. SS: Scott Fletcher (.300/.360/.400, 35.5 VORP, 19.9 Win Shares) – Another career year here, I already talked about him in the 1992 Milwaukee Brewers entry. OF: Ruben Sierra (.264/.302/.476, 9.4 VORP, 11.2 Win Shares) – Gary Ward was the primary left fielder this season for the Rangers and had a few more plate appearances but I couldn’t pass up talking about “The Village Idiot.” Never became the next Roberto Clemente as some had pegged him, he showed a lot of promise early in his career with a couple of outstanding years in 1989 and 1991 but peaked in his mid-20’s. Traded in a blockbuster deadline deal to the A’s in 1992 for a rat piece of shit. I was thrilled at the time but after the ’92 season Sierra decided to bulk up and become more of a power hitter which did not pay off. Had very much worn out his welcome by 1995 and was traded to the Yankees for fellow disgruntled outfielder Danny Tartabull. Traded again almost exactly a year later to the Tigers for Cecil Fielder who would toss him off to the Reds following season. For the next ten years he bounced to the Blue Jays, White Sox, Mets (minors only), Indians, back to the Rangers, Mariners, Rangers yet again, Yankees again, and finally the Twins in 2006. Did sign a minor league deal with the Mets last season but nothing came of it. CF: Oddibe McDowell (.266/.341/.427, 23.1 VORP, 19.8 Win Shares) – Quite possibly the greatest first name in the history of first names, this was as good as would get for Oddibe as his career flamed pretty quick. Was part of the deal for Julio Franco following the ’88 season, wouldn’t last very long in Cleveland as they dealt him to the Braves midseason in ’89. Put up some solid numbers in half a season with Atlanta but came back down to earth again the following year. Didn’t appear in the Majors between 1991 and 1993 before making a return to the Rangers in 1994 as a back up. RF: Pete Incaviglia (.250/.320/.463, 16.4 VORP, 16.1 Win Shares) – There was a lot of buzz about Incaviglia going into the season as he made the Rangers without playing a single game in the minors after putting up record numbers at Oklahoma State. Certainly had a lot of power but his inability to make consistent contact kept his homerun totals down as the 30 he hit this season as rookie would end up being a career high. Was released by the Rangers before the 1991 season, would spend the next two years in Detroit and Houston. In 1993 he signed with the Phillies where he made a pretty good contribution as a platoon player on their pennant winning team. Spent one more season there before playing a year Japan and then returning to Philly in 1996. They would trade him a waiver deadline deal to Baltimore later that year, would bounce around to three more teams and was out of the Majors after 1998. DH: Larry Parrish (.276/.347/.509, 32.6 VORP, 16.7 Win Shares) – Already discussed him in the 1980 Montreal Expos entry, this was one of his best seasons. Rotation Charlie Hough (114 ERA+, 33.2 VORP, 14.2 Win Shares) – It’s amazing when you look back at Hough’s career that he wasn’t a regular starting pitcher until age 34. The knuckeballer was 38 at this point (looked 50) and was in the middle of the best stretch of his career. Signed as a free agent with the White Sox after 1990, spent two years there and then was part of the expansion Marlins for the final two years of his career. Ed Correa (102 ERA+, 27.8 VORP, 10.3 Win Shares) – Correa was only 20 years old and this was his only full season in the Majors. Had 189 strikeouts but also 126 walks so I’ll just guess he threw hard but had no clue where it was going most of the time. Played just one more year in the Majors. Bobby Witt (79 ERA+, -2.2 VORP, 3.4 Win Shares) – This was Witt’s rookie year and he clearly wasn’t ready. In his first two seasons he threw 300 1/3 innings and walked 283 batters. Yikes. Only had one good year in 1990 and would be part of the before mentioned Sierra/Shit trade in 1992 to Oakland. Signed with the Marlins in 1995 but would be traded back to Texas later that season. Dealt to the Cardinals in 1998, he became a nomad the rest of his career but did pick up a World Series ring in his final year in 2001 with Diamondbacks. Jose Guzman (95 ERA+, 10.2 VORP, 6.1 Win Shares) – Yet another young pitcher, I always thought he was Juan Guzman’s brother but I was wrong. After a decent year in 1988 shoulder problems would cost him full two seasons but did comeback to have two more solid years in Texas. He parlayed that into a lucrative four year deal with the Cubs which was good for him and bad for the Cubs as his arm problems returned in 1994 and didn’t pitch a single inning for them the last two years of the deal. Closer: Greg Harris (152 ERA+, 30.4 VORP, 14.3 Win Shares) – This was the only year that Harris was really a closer per say as most of his career was a long reliever/swingman. Had several stops in his career with his longest being in Boston from 1989 to 1994. His claim to fame is that in this game (next to last appearance of his career) as a member of the Expos he became the only pitcher in the 20th century to throw from both sides of the mound.

San Francisco 49ers select... Early Doucet, WR, LSU The 49ers will obviously take out a receiver with one of their first two picks and this is a pick that has a very good chance of happening in the real draft at this spot. Should be a good fit in a Mike Martz offense.

Looks like it may take a while to get the final two spots filled so definitely won't move the draft up to this week. Now assuming those spots get filled I'm going to quickly go over Strat-O-Matic's defensive ratings. When it comes to hitting and pitching you can just look at the player's stats from that season to figure if they were good or not. It's a little different with defense of course and here's how to read a player's defensive ratings, which you can find along with their regular stats in the Player Set Browser under the Help section of the league homepage and also contains an excel file you can download. I'll use Wade Boggs as an example: 2e21 The first number refers to the player's range, which goes from 1 (excellent) to 5 (poor). The second number refers approximately how many errors that player will make in a 162 game season. For outfielders and catchers their defense ratings will look a little different, for this I'll use Robin Yount's ratings: 2(+1)e1 The number in parenthesis refers to the player's arm, which goes from -5 (excellent) to +5 (poor). So if someone has a 0 arm rating that means their arm is average. Now for a little helpful guide here are the players (regulars only) who have a "1" range rating at each position, excluding catchers and pitchers. 1B: Keith Hernandez, Wally Joyner, Don Mattingly 2B: Bill Doran, Ryne Sandberg, Lou Whitaker, Frank White 3B: Terry Pendleton, Mike Schmidt SS: Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin, Dick Schofield, Ozzie Smith LF: Eric Davis, Tim Raines CF: Rickey Henderson, Willie McGee, Eddie Milner, Dale Murphy, Dwayne Murphy, Gary Pettis, Kirby Puckett. RF: Jesse Barfield, Andre Dawson, Dwight Evans, Tony Gwynn, Andy Van Slyke, Glenn Wilson, Dave Winfield For catchers no one on this set has better than a -3 arm rating and they are Bob Boone, Jody Davis, Rich Gedman, Lance Parrish, and Tony Pena. Jesse Barfield is the only outfielder a -5 arm rating on the set, although there are a handful that have a -4.

Kevin Slowey, SP

Guess we're close enough to start speculating on seedings for the tournament and who's on the bubble. The Bracket Project keeps track of every projection out there. Most of them of course are only updated thru Sunday. Last Four In Syracuse Arkansas BYU Illinois State Last Four Out St. Joseph's Arizona State Villanova Seton Hall

If the final two spots get filled in the next day or two I might move the draft up to as early as next week. And if you aren't convinced you want to manage a team of 1986 players, well this should do it. 1986 Los Angeles Dodgers aka The Baseball Boogie Bunch

Bill Hall, OF

They are based on the 1986 season only. Looks like we will get the league off the ground as there are only three spots left. I'm open to suggestions regarding the draft day and time but again you can preset rankings if you can't make it. I picked that date since it's the first night of the NCAA basketball tournament so figured people would be home that night.

Edit: Nevermind, too. I'll paste the explanation into the first post.

Sorry I couldn't direct link the sign up page to my league. I did link to the Strat-O-Matic leagues page in the first post so just go there and select the 1986 Free league icon. Next it'll ask you to come up with a name for your team and also your "manager" name, which I'd suggest your screen name here so we know who everyone is. Next screen you'll select "Live Draft" which is defaulted and that will take you to a list of available leagues and just select the 1986 TSM League under the private leagues section. I should also add that when it comes to the Live Draft it will work the same way as a Yahoo fantasy league where you can preset rankings if you can't make it to the draft.

San Francisco 49ers select... Phillip Merling, Defensive End, Clemson Everyone has the Niners taking a receiver here but I think there will still be good options at pick #39 and their defensive line might be even weaker than their passing game.

Bracket Project Update Last Four In Villanova Ohio State Wake Forest Florida Last Four Out Rhode Island Syracuse Kentucky New Mexico

TV Schedule for the week of 2/25 - 3/2 MONDAY #21 Marquette at Villanova, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN #5 Texas at Kansas State, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN Gonzaga at Portland, 11:00/8:00 PM, ESPN2 TUESDAY Ohio State at #12 Indiana, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN Southern Illinois at Bradley, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 #1 Tennessee at #18 Vanderbilt, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN WEDNESDAY #6 Kansas at Iowa State, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN Georgia Tech at #7 Duke, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN West Virginia at DePaul, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY #17 Notre Dame at #13 Louisville, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN St. Louis at St. Joseph's, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 USC at Arizona, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN #19 Michigan State at #10 Wisconsin, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 #22 Washington State at California, 11:00/8:00, FSN SATURDAY #7 Duke at N.C. State, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS Pittsburgh at Syracuse, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN Wright State at Valparaiso, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 #11 Georgetown at #21 Marquette, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS Texas A&M at Oklahoma, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN Wichita State at #20 Drake, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN2 #3 North Carolina at Boston College, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC #5 Texas at Texas Tech, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS* Mississippi State at Florida, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS* Ohio State at Minnesota, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN #22 Washington State at #8 Stanford, 4:00/1:00 PM, FSN Kansas State at #6 Kansas, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN SUNDAY Kentucky at #1 Tennessee, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS #12 Indiana at #19 Michigan State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS #4 UCLA at Arizona, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS* Villanova at #13 Louisville, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS* Clemson at Maryland, 7:30/4:30 PM, FSN Oregon at Oregon State, 10:00/7:00 PM, FSN

Josh Bard, C

Finally getting around to start watching the World Series sets I bought last year and starting with the bonus disk on the 1977 set which features Game 5 of the ALCS where the Yankees for the second straight year beat the Royals in the 9th inning of the deciding game. 1977 American League Championship Series Game 5 - Yankees 5, Royals 3 (boxscore and play account) -The series was televised nationally by NBC but on this disk they have the Yankees local broadcast of the game and there no graphics with the original footage. Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, and Bill White are the announcers. The first pitch of the game is missing so it takes me a few minutes to figure out all of this. -Yankees and Royals had a pretty fierce rivalry going at this time and we get a brawl in the bottom of the 1st. George Brett would hit an RBI triple and as he came up from his slide into 3rd he shoved Graig Nettles off the bag. Nettles takes exception to this and kicks Brett and then the brouhaha starts. Both benches clear but neither player is ejected. -Amazingly enough Billy Martin actually benched Reggie Jackson for this game in favor of a washed up Paul Blair as Blair had better numbers against Royals starter Paul Splittorff. Rizzuto at one point in the game claims that Jackson took the benching in great stride. Yeah, right. -The Yankee announcers constantly fawn over Thurman Munson's clutchiness and reminding everyone he is the Yankee Captain. If you closed your eyes you'd think you were hearing current announcers talk about Derek Jeter. For Jeter's sake I hope he doesn't take up flying... -Ron Guidry pitched on only two days rest and it showed as he was knocked out in the 3rd. Mike Torrez was brilliant in relief as the Royals failed to score another run the rest of the game. -With out in the top of the 4th the disk jumps to the bottom of the 4th with one out so I'm guessing the footage went bad that point. Nothing important is missed. -Pete LaCock!!! -Reggie finally makes his appearance in the game with pinch hit bloop single to knock in a run in the top of the 8th to pull the Yankees within one. Later in the inning Frank White makes a great diving play to prevent Chris Chambliss from tying the game up and forces Reggie at 2nd. Reggie argues that he was safe even though he was out by a good five feet and I can only think he for some reason didn't think the force play was possible. He also injures shortstop Freddie Patek on the play after sliding in although I couldn't tell how he got hurt. -Few pitches in the bottom of the 8th are missing from the disk after Torrez was replaced by Sparky Lyle but again nothing major is missed. -Whitey Herzog elected to go with his ace Dennis Leonard in the 9th to finish the game rather than a reliever. Leonard had just pitched a complete game win in Game 3 two days earlier and was not sharp as he allows both hitters he faced to reach base before Herzog hooks him. The damage was done as the Yankees would plate three runs in the 9th to send the Royals to another heartbreaking ALCS loss. -During Roy White's at bat in the 9th for a few seconds there is audio from some movie looped over on the disk. The voice sounded like Brian Cox but no idea what movie it was. Really bizarre. Bonus Clips -Nothing too special here as like the other sets it's mostly just interviews from old players and most of the clips are about Reggie. Best clip is they have the postgame interviews from the clinching Game 6 in the Series as Reggie makes sure to get a plug for Puma in during his interview. 1. Inside the Moments: Reggie Jackson’s 3 HR Game 2. Yankees World Series Locker Room Celebration and Interviews 3. 1977 World Series Trophy Presentation 4. Reggie Jackson on his 3 HR Game 5. Piniella on Reggie’s 3 HR Performance 6. Steinbrenner talks about Reggie’s 3 HR Game 7. Steinbrenner on the day he signed Reggie 8. Dusty Baker on the Yankees/Dodgers Rivalry 9. Burt Hooton on giving up Reggie’s first HR in Game 6 10. Mickey Rivers on Reggie’s World Series performance 11. Guidry on the Yankees being called the “Bronx Zoo” 12. Guidry on the Steinbrenner/Martin/Jackson triangle of controversy 13. Guidry on his first postseason in 1977 14. Chris Chambliss tells of his most memorable World Series moment 15. Roy White on Billy Martin benching Reggie in ’77 ALCS Game 5 16. Piniella on Martin benching Reggie in the ACLS 17. Paul Blair on starting over Reggie in ALCS Game 5 18. The Billy Martin/Reggie Jackson confrontation in Boston (original footage spliced with interviews) 19. Brian Doyle on the Billy/Reggie confrontation 20. Randolph on the confrontation in Fenway Park 21. Piniella talks about the Billy/Reggie confrontation 22. Guidry gives a detailed account of the confrontation 23. Randolph on the term “Bronx Zoo” given to the ’77 Yanks

Bronson Arroyo, SP

Duke loses again, this time to Miami.

Khalil Greene, SS

Bracket Project Update Most projections are thru Sunday. Last Four In St. Joseph's Oregon Syracuse South Alabama Last Four Out Florida Houston Miami Mississippi