9/23 - 9/30 ... Last Sim TUESDAY PM

[CSCommish]

File and pages are up. Next sim is tomorrow, TUESDAY, evening, to take us to the beginning of the playoffs. This is just a 1-day sim to allow teams to reset rotations and whatnot.

Waiver Trade Deadline is tomorrow night as well.

MAX 38 GS.



Breaking News

Saturday 10/1/1984: New York (N)'s Sanderson named Pitcher of the Month
Minnesota's Rick A. Anderson had a terrific September, and it earned him the American League Pitcher of the month award. His record of 3-0 in 5 was among the leagues best this month. In 41.1 innings of work he allowed just 24 hits while striking out 24, compiling an ERA of just 1.09. In 29 starts this year Rick A. struck out 138 batters in 208.1 innings of work. His ERA is 3.72, his record 12-9. New York (N)'s Scott Sanderson had a terrific September, and it earned him the National League Pitcher of the month award. He started 8 games in September, going 5-1 and compiling an ERA of 1.42 in 57 innings. Scott fanned 47 hitters. This season Sanderson compiled an ERA of 2.32, going 21-9 in 36 starts. He fanned 215 while giving up 207 hits in 255.2 innings. Scott has pitched 2 shutouts and 4 complete games. He's 4th in the National League in ERA and 1st in wins!

Saturday 10/1/1984: Houston's Barfield named Batter of the Month
The American League Batter of the Month award goes to Robin Yount, Milwaukee's starting centerfielder. Yount helped his team with an average of .336 and 24 RBI in 110 at bats. Yount has walked 73 times this year and posts a .421 OBP. While batting .344, 206 for 599, he has driven in 95 runs. He's 1st in the American League in batting and 9th in RBI! The National League Batter of the Month award goes to Jesse Barfield, Houston's starting first baseman. In 98 at bats he hit .347 with 5 HR and 25 RBI. While compiling an on base percentage of .328, Jesse hit .264 and slugged .438. He has collected 74 runs batted in this year.

Monday 9/26/1984: Montreal's Fletcher severely injured
MONTREAL - Montreal's second baseman Scott Fletcher will miss about 4 weeks after he hurt himself badly in the 5th inning of the game between Montreal and St. Louis. He fielded a ball off the bat of Rance Mulliniks, threw a bullet to first and immediately signaled that he's not OK. After x-rays were taken the diagnosis did not surprise many: Ruptured Tricep Tendon. Surgery will be performed next week. He has hit no longballs while batting .221 this season. His 114 hits and 65 walks add up to a .317 on-base percentage.

Monday 9/26/1984: Boston's McCatty severely injured
BOSTON - Boston's right-hander Steve McCatty suffered a severe injury on Monday and will be out for at least 4-5 weeks. In the 4th of the game against New York (A) he experienced pain in his throwing arm and had to leave the game. After being taken to a local hospital, McCatty was examined by specialists. The diagnosis revealed the sad truth, a Pulled Rotator Cuff Muscle. Opposing players hit .285 against Steve this season. While posting an ERA of 4.62 he went 10-13 in 32 starts, fanning 57 and walking 92 hitters. He has 4 complete games and one shutout.

Monday 9/26/1984: San Diego's Lezcano wins Player of the Week award
Bob Molinaro from Minnesota wins his 3rd Player of the Week award for putting up the best numbers this week in the American League. Bob went 12 for 29 (.414), while hitting 3 HR and collecting 9 RBI. He hit in every game this week and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He has hit 20 bombs while batting .284 this season. His 149 hits and 81 walks add up to a .383 on-base percentage. It's the 1st time that the National League Player of the Week award goes to San Diego's centerfielder Sixto Lezcano. Lezcano helped his team with an average of .545 and 4 RBI in 22 at bats. Lezcano has hit 18 taters this year while batting .322. He adds 23 doubles, along with 59 runs scored. He's 2nd in the National League in batting!

Saturday 9/24/1984: Don Heinkel (CHN) will miss 5-6 weeks
CHICAGO (N) - When it rains, it pours. Chicago (N)'s right-hander Don Heinkel will not pitch for at least 5-6 weeks, handing the team a huge setback. He suffered a serious injury in a game against New York (N) where he left the field in the 2nd inning. Doctors examined him after the game and diagnosed a Torn Tricep Muscle which will require surgery. Opposing players hit .243 against Don this season. While posting an ERA of 3.52 he went 4-5 in 15 starts, fanning 77 and walking 28 hitters.

Saturday 9/24/1984: Mario Soto shuts out California on one hit
CALIFORNIA - Great days are rare. But not for Cleveland's right-hander Mario Soto. California found out the hard way that he is among the leagues top pitchers, getting just one hit. It's his 1st shutout this season, and the 3rd time he has done it in his career. Soto (19-9) fanned 4 and walked 2, throwing 103 pitches. 'Giving my team a chance to win is the most important thing for me. I was able to do it today.' Mike A. Marshall helped Soto at the plate, he finished 1 for 3, blasting a homerun, and collecting 2 RBI. Cleveland improved its record to 87-68, scoring 3 runs on 6 hits.

General News

Saturday 9/24/1984 :
CLE: Mario Soto pitches a 1-hit shutout against California!!
SEA: Ozzie Smith sets a new season Seattle-Record for Stolen Bases with 72!
SEA: Ozzie Smith sets a new season Seattle-Record for Doubles with 38!

Sunday 9/25/1984 :
LAN: Don Hood pitches a 3-hit shutout against Atlanta!!

Monday 9/26/1984 :
American League-Player of the Week:
RF Bob Molinaro (MIN)!
He batted .414 in 29 AB, with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

National League-Player of the Week:
CF Sixto Lezcano (SDG)!
He batted .545 in 22 AB, with 2 HR and 4 RBI.

Wednesday 9/28/1984 :
KCR: Dave Parker sets a new season AL-Record for Doubles with 55!
KCR: Dave Parker sets a new season Kansas City-Record for Doubles with 55!
STL: Tim Raines Sr. sets a new season St. Louis-Record for Homeruns with 34!

Friday 9/30/1984 :
SEA: Bill Madlock sets a new season Seattle-Record for Runs with 106!

Friday 10/1/1984 :
American League-Pitcher of the Month:
Rick A. Anderson (MIN)!
He had a record of 3-0 in 5 games started, with an ERA of 1.09.

American League-Batter of the Month:
Robin Yount (MIL)!
He batted .336 in 110 AB, with 8 homers and 24 RBI.

National League-Pitcher of the Month:
Scott Sanderson (NYM)!
He had a record of 5-1 in 8 games started, with an ERA of 1.42.

National League-Batter of the Month:
Jesse Barfield (HOU)!
He batted .347 in 98 AB, with 5 homers and 25 RBI.

Transactions

Friday 9/23/1984 :
Oakland : Paul Siebert has been signed to a contract extension, $2,610,000 per year, for 3 years.

New York (A): Released RF Steve Brye.
New York (A): Released 3B Toby Harrah.
New York (A): Released C Earl C. Williams.
Chicago (A) : Free agent Steve Brye has been signed to a contract of $5,810,000 per year, for 1 years.
Chicago (A) : Free agent Toby Harrah has been signed to a contract of $1,000,000 per year, for 1 years.
Chicago (A) : Free agent Earl C. Williams has been signed to a contract of $0 per year, for 0 years.

Injuries

Saturday 9/24/1984 :
TEX: Joe Strain was injured while throwing a ball.
Diagnosis: Pulled Elbow Ligament.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take 1-2 weeks.

CHN: Don Heinkel was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Torn Tricep Muscle.
He will be OK in about 5-6 weeks.

Sunday 9/25/1984 :
DET: Vance McHenry was injured while throwing a ball.
Diagnosis: Strained Bicep Muscle.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take 5-6 weeks.

CLE: Dwight Gooden was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Sore Shoulder.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take 5 days.

MON: Al Holland was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Tight Shoulder.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take 6 days.

Monday 9/26/1984 :
BOS: Steve McCatty was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Pulled Rotator Cuff Muscle.
He is out for about 4-5 weeks.

MON: Scott Fletcher was injured while throwing a ball.
Diagnosis: Ruptured Tricep Tendon.
He will be OK in about 4 weeks.

Tuesday 9/27/1984 :
KCR: Otis Nixon was injured while running the bases.
Diagnosis: Pulled Groin Muscle.
He will be OK in about 1-2 weeks.

BOS: Mickey Tettleton was injured while running the bases.
Diagnosis: Torn Hip Muscle.
He will be OK in about 2-3 weeks.

Wednesday 9/28/1984 :
MIL: Cliff Johnson was injured while running the bases.
Diagnosis: Inflamed Groin Muscle.
He will be OK in about one week.

STL: Fernando Valenzuela was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Tender Shoulder.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take one week.

Thursday 9/29/1984 :
CLE: Steve Henderson was injured while making a catch.
Diagnosis: Bruised Hand.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take 4 days.

BAL: Dennis Martinez was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Strained Bicep Tendon.
He will be OK in about 4 weeks.

OAK: John Martin was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Tight Elbow.
He is out for about 1-2 weeks.

PHI: Bob Shirley was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Stiff Shoulder.
He is out for about 1-2 weeks.

Friday 9/30/1984 :
NYA: Gorman Thomas was injured while running the bases.
Diagnosis: Bruised Heel.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take 4 days.

TEX: Walt Terrell was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Tight Shoulder.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take 5 days.

[Reddington]

well look at that, I actually did worse with all my starters in

[Reddington]

This is just a 1-day sim to allow teams to reset rotations and whatnot.

ah.  was perplexed when I saw 1 day left

[tadontask]

This is a complicated reason for a number of issues. Let me start with a couple of facts here.

1) We don't have a rule against tanking. Not specifically. We have a rule where you might have to add free agents if your team is under .300, which is more of a rule against sucking than tanking.

2) Clearly, a number of owners do not think what Atlanta has done is acceptable practice. I'm not going to call it cheating (see point #1) but it is tanking. Atlanta is purposely losing games so they can get the draft pick that they want.

I'm of the opinion that whether your team is .250 or .550 doesn't matter since the goal of tanking is the same. But it's critical to have a definition. "Not playing your best players" isn't an acceptable definition. For one, who determines who my best players are? Yes, for most positions it's pretty clear, but for others it can get muddy. I may decide to play a "worse" player for a sim or two if he has the hot bat, if he's younger and I want to get him experience, if I've clinched a playoff spot and I want my veterans to avoid getting hurt, or if I've been eliminated and I want to see what some of the young guys can do. In other words, there are a number of legitimate reasons I might not play the better player, and I wouldn't want someone looking at my team and forcing me to start the other guy. Nobody would have noticed this if I didn't ask the question. And *I* wouldn't have noticed it if Atlanta wasn't 1 game in back of me after the 9/14 sim and I decided to take a closer look at their roster.

I also don't believe in setting a winning percentage floor as a definition, since selling all your talent for picks and prospects is a legitimate form of rebuilding in my opinion, even if it leaves you with horrible teams for a few seasons.

Before we even come up with solutions or punishments, we have to define the problem in an objective form, and I haven't seen that done yet.

I've also asked myself who has gotten hurt by Atlanta's moves? First, the teams that played Atlanta more at the beginning of the season, who had to play them at full strength versus those who are playing Atlanta in September. Second, the legitimately bad team that could really use John Smoltz, that now isn't going to get him. But thirdly, Atlanta. Atlanta has a playoff roster, and anything can happen, so they cost themselves a shot at another World Series Championship in order to grab a (admittedly very good) lottery ticket.

I'm personally no fan of tanking. I wish it didn't exist or that owners wouldn't do it. But given the complications I listed above, I think it's simply easier to allow it, unless someone comes up with a viable alternative. And if we want to have that discussion, again, I believe it should take place after this season before anything related to 1985 gets started. Doing this mid-season doesn't work.

[dgfred]

It is weird talking about a 87 win 'tanking' team.

[Matt]

I loved the days where common sense was still around.

If you've got a logical reason to bench your best players (tired, struggling, different guy was hitting/pitching better), then I'll never argue or comment on anyone's moves or lineups.

But if you're intentionally benching your best guys to try and lose (no matter what excuse you can think of afterwards), then that's worthy of being brought up to someone. I'd probably send a PM to Commish over posting publicly, but that's just me.