Tagged: New York Yankees
Greatest Regular Season Day in MLB History? | Preview of the new 2011 season player cards
Rays react after Dan Johnson 2 out 9th inning HR caps 7 run comeback
September 28, 2011 arguably goes down in MLB history as the Greatest single day in regular season history with a finish so unlikely and so dramatic it seemed it was scripted from the writers of “24”.
Dan Johnson’s 2-out, 2-strike Home Run in the bottom of the 9th that capped off a seven run comeback vs. the Yankees and saved the season for the Rays. For Johnson’s heroics he earned a Clutch hitting situation rating on his new 2011 season DYNASTY League Baseball player card. It is very unusual for a non-RBI leader to earn a Clutch hitting rating, but it has happened before with Al Weis 1969 Mets, Tom Lawless 1987 Cardinals and Manny Mota’s 1977 Dodgers player cards.
The Tigers Victor Martinez epitomized Clutch hitting by raking at a .375 clip with RSP/2 outs and .394 with RSP along with Miguel Cabrera (.382/724, .388/.673).
The AL East perennial powers Boston and New York both failed to earn a JAM situation rating for their relief aces Jonathan Papelbon and Mariano Rivera. Papelbon lost his chance for a JAM with an unimpressive .273 BA with RSP/2 out. Rivera was not only mediocre with a .261 BA/.435 SLG with RSP/2 out, but got rocked with RSP at a .326 BA/.488 SLG clip.
DYNASTY League Baseball fans Dave Kerpen and Andrew Kaufmann debated the merits of the Mets R.A. Dickey chance for a JAM rating in the 2011 season player card set. What it came down to is that even though Dickey won only 8 games he was a candidate for a JAM rating because he was amongst the Official ERA leaders with his 3.28 ERA. Dickey earned his JAM rating on the basis of a .184 BA/.241 SLG with RSP/2 out.
The poster boy for a JAM rating is Tim Lincecum who dialed it up with RSP/2 out allowing a .115 BA/.177 SLG. Now THAT is a pitcher who can get out of a jam!
Carp JAM rating? This year a resounding YES for Cardinal Ace Chris Carpenter.
How could he not after besting Phillie Ace Roy Halladay in a Game 5 NLDS 1-0 duel of aces to end all pitching duels? A .236 BA with RSP/2 outs during the regular season helps too.
Chris Carpenter celebrated after his duel with Halladay in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS
Beer in the bullpen? The Red Sox cleaned house after the season becaue the clubhouse chemistry had gone awry. The starting rotation of Beckett, Bucholz, Lackey and Lester all got slapped with a D intangible rating for their Boston beer party.
Mark Buehrle staked his claim on this generation’s version of Jim Kaat with an A+ Range rating and 90 Error rating. Buehrle ranked #1 in the Fielding Bible Plus/Minus leaderboard for pitchers with a +4 score to his right, +2 in the middle and 9 runs saved.
Troy Tulowitzki (A/100/-5) earned an A Range rating on the basis of his excellent 5.05 Range Factor (1st) and his solid Fielding Bible +10 score. Error 100 ratings are historically rare and Tulowitzki’s .991 Fielding pct. got him the top historical rating on the scale. Tulo’s player card is a true gem topped off by his -5 Double Play pivot rating which was earned on the basis of his #1 ranked DP pct. of .681.
In the AL, Brendan Ryan (A/70/-5) ranked 1st in the shortstop Fielding Bible rankings for the second year in a row with a +22 Plus/Minus.
It’s rare that a rookie would debut with an A range rating, but that is exactly what the Angel’s Mark Trumbo (A/70) did ranking 1st in Fielding Bible Plus/Minus (+11).
Washington’s Rick Ankiel continues to not just impress, but to put himself in the pantheon next to Clemente in terms of throwing arms. Ankiel’s 7 “kills” and 9 runs saved ranked him 1st among all CF. MLB scouts also graded Ankiel’s arm an 8 on their 2-8 scale. Ankiel (B+/90/-4) earned a very rare -4 throwing arm rating in 2011 in both CF and RF.
Atlanta’s Michael Bourn continues to be as menacing as Jason Bourne – only Michael does his killing on the basepaths. Bourn scores a 10 Baserunning rating and top tier lead (7/6/2) and steal (8/7/1) ratings at 2nd/3rd/Home.
The new DYNASTY League Baseball 2011 season player card set is available for DYNASTY League Baseball Online right here right now and available in the original Board version format at the Ticket Window.
10 Reasons why Greatest Team leagues are a valuable Baseball learning experience for young and old
New to Pursue the Pennant and it’s successor DYNASTY League Baseball? DYNASTY League Baseball is an extremely realistic Baseball simulation game that has it’s roots in the original Pursue the Pennant board game that debuted in 1985 and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Hobby Games of the last 50 years.
In the DYNASTY League Baseball Online Greatest Teams leagues you will choose from one of 76 of the Greatest Teams in Baseball history and then Manage your team in a 12 team league that is divided up into AL and NL Divisions of 6 teams.
1) You will have fun learning Baseball history
Instead of reading about Baseball history in the process of managing your team and playing other great teams you will learn who the great historical players were and why they were so great because you are playing against the likes of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Stever Carlton, Tom Seaver and Dizzy Dean.
2) You will learn how Major League scouts evaluate a players “baseball tools” and the strengths and weaknesses of the greatest baseball players of All-Time.
3) You will learn offensive strategies by managing real MLB players.
When should you steal, hit and run, take the extra base, pinch hit, pinch run, sacrifice bunt and suicide squeeze? What is the best lineup and batting order for my team? When should I platoon vs. left-handed and right-handed pitchers and with which players?
4) You will learn defensive strategies by managing real MLB players.
When should you warm-up a relief pitcher, bring in a relief pitcher, bring in a defensive replacement, throw through or cut-off a throw, bring the infield in, set the infield corners in or call for the intentional walk? What is the best pitching rotation for my team?
5) You will learn which Major League ball parks are hitters or pitchers parks and the various outfield and foul territory dimensions.
As you play out your season you will be playing in historical ball parks from every era in Baseball history.
6) You will learn how a players fielding range, fielding percentage, throwing arm, double play pivot and catcher’s handling of pitchers effects various plays.
7) You will learn how power hitters, contact hitters, high on base hitters, clutch hitters, spray and pull hitters effect each at bat.
8) You will learn how control pitchers, ground ball pitchers, fly ball pitchers, strikeout pitchers, pitchers who rarely walk the lead off batter, pitchers who rarely give up HR with runners on base and pitchers who are tough in jams effect each plate appearance.
9) You will learn how fast and slow basestealers, baserunners with good and bad instincts effect steal attempts and taking the extra base. You will also learn how important both a pitchers ability to hold baserunners and catchers and outfielders throwing arms are.
10) You will learn about Baseball statistics and why they are important in evaluating players and making managerial decisions.
Do you know what OBP and SLG are, how they are calculated and why they are one of the best offensive indicators? Baseball is more than just physical tools it is a cerebral sport where at times the smartest teams and players can beat a more physically talented team.
The thrill of the Greatest Teams bracket tournaments
What if the Greatest Baseball Teams of All-Time met in an NCAA basketball style bracket tournament? Single game elimination. You lose, you go fishing. You win, you live to play another day and advance towards the championship game.
We just completed the first ever DYNASTY League Baseball Online Greatest Team bracket tournaments and the experience is like playing “Game 7” everytime you play. One word best describes it “Thrilling”.
Does the best team always win? Maybe, maybe not. Amongst the 70 Greatest Teams, any team could win the bracket and that is part of what makes it all so fascinating.
Above you can see the screen shot of one of the Elite Eight tournament brackets. 1982 Milwaukee won all three of it’s games on clutch, heroic, drama filled, thrilling HR in the late innings by the likes of “stormin” Gorman Thomas and Ted Simmons. I was managing Milwaukee and faced off in the Championship vs. 1998 New York managed by Carmine Turso and I felt like it was 1982 all over again with Harvey’s Wallbangers punishing pitchers with their 216 HR.
One of the new very cool features just added to the bracket tournaments is the ability to follow every game of the tournament in real time. The scores update automatically and when you click on the scores you see the in-progress box score and game summary. Click on the team and you see updated Batting, Pitching and Fielding stats for that team in the tournament.
Our first Greatest Team bracket was played by DYNASTY League Baseball Online architect Jamie Hall and myself in a Final Four matchup. Below is a screen shots of a first round matchup between 1979 Pittsburgh and 1982 St. Louis. 1982 St. Louis won in a thrilling late inning comeback, but was overpowered by 1975 Boston’s offense in the Championship final.
There also is a new Manager ranking system coming. As you win and lose games and hopefully win Championships, you will accumulate points based on your performance. Each franchise will have 10 Managerial levels that you can reach named after actual franchise Managers. The Yankee franchise will have the coveted Billy Martin, Joe Torre and Casey Stengel levels to reach.
You’ll be able to experience the “thrill” for yourself by signing in at dynastyleaguebaseball.com
Greatest Teams bracket Tournament schedule
Sunday
1P ET
Sweet 16
4P ET
Sweet 16
7P ET
Sweet 16
10P ET
Sweet 16
Midnight
Sweet 16
Monday
1P ET
Elite 8
7P ET
Sweet 16
10P ET
Sweet 16
Midnight
Sweet 16
Tuesday
1P ET
Elite 8
7P ET
Sweet 16
10P ET
Sweet 16
Midnight
Sweet 16
Wednesday
1P ET
Elite 8
7P ET
Sweet 16
10P ET
Sweet 16
Midnight
Sweet 16
Thursday
1P ET
Elite 8
7P ET
Sweet 16
10P ET
Sweet 16
Midnight
Sweet 16
Friday
1P ET
Elite 8
4P ET
Elite 8
7P ET
Sweet 16
10P ET
Sweet 16
Midnight ET
Sweet 16
Saturday
10A ET
Sweet 16
Noon ET
Sweet 16
2P ET
Sweet 16
4P ET
Sweet 16
6P ET
Sweet 16
8P ET
Sweet 16
10P ET
Sweet 16
Midnight
Sweet 16
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