Posts Tagged ‘baseball’

Dynasty 1973 League Divisional Round Preview Twins vs Orioles, Cubs Vs Reds, Royals vs Brewers, Pirates vs Dodgers

Posted: July 17, 2025 by datechguy in dynasty baseball, fun, gaming, online gaming
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Well the wild cards rounds are done so now it’s time for the divisional rounds

AL

Kansas City Royals (95-67) 3rd Seed at Milwaukee Brewers (92-70) Beta Division title

Season series Milwaukee 6-4

Kansas City Royals

The Royals have one big bat in the person of veteran Frank Robinson who found the fountain of youth this season with 25 HR leading the team. Former MVP Bobby Murcer has not come back to the levels he had in NY but he put up reasonable numbers for the team.

But the strength of the team is their ace Bert Blyleven who dominated the majors winning the AL Cy Young in a walk winning 25 (most in majors) with the 2nd best ERA in the majors 2.41. Bob Reynolds managed 10 wins in relief. Doug Bird picked up 6 saves in six chances and Ramon Hernandez added 18 more but also blew seven. The rest of the rotation Nelson Briles, Bill Greif and Mike Cuellar were adequate with mid range ERA’s (3.69- 4.15)

The individual numbers aren’t earth shattering but they were good enough to be 3rd in the AL in batting and 2nd in the league in doubles. It all added up to 95 wins and kept KC in the fight for the division until the very end of the season.

Secret Weapon: Contact. Only the Yankees and the Cardinals stuck out less that the Royals this season.

Milwaukee Brewers 92-70 1st AL Beta

Milwaukee lives and Dies with Pete Rose who led the league in batting hitting .339 and hits 224 hits including 10 triples and 34 doubles. Rose scored 102 runs and drove in 100 despite only hitting 2 HR all season. This was made possible in part thanks to two things. Ron Fairly (146 walks) and Denis Menke (119 walks) batting ahead of him and Billy Williams last year’s triple crown winner in the NL who not only did not make Atlanta’s cut but somehow dropped to 17th in the draft allowing Milwaukee to pick him up to bat behind Rose, where he hit .296 with 22 HR and 122 runs driven in (2nd in AL). Rookie Catcher Darryl Porter finally got some full time play and kept the balls going out adding power to a team that lacked it. The final pieces came in a trade with Boston which lost them Bernie Carbo’s great bat, OBP and Arm, but gained the Bud Harrelson’s defense and Willie Davis’ range and Bat to round them out.

On the Mound the Rotation of Ken Holtzman 18-14 3.12 , Don Wilson 20-8 3.33 and Al Downing 14-11 2.81 (plus 3 saves in 4 chances) is one of the best in the majors. Add to that George Stone 11-7 3.68 as the #4 man who might be a #2 or 3 on any other team and you have one of the most devastating rotations in the game, particularly 2-4. Ellis Sosa managed 15 saves but led the league with 8 blown and veteran Bob Miller did much better saving 8 and blowing only two.

Secret Weapon OF Steve Byre .286 9 HR & 58 RBI might not seem like much but hit .300 with a .386 OBP vs LHP

Peter’s pick. (Full disclosure I manage Milwaukee) In a five game series Bert Blyleven might get 2 starts which is bad news for Milwaukee but Milwaukee has the advantage both in pitching for games 2-4 and in Batting overall. The wild card that might make the difference is that the Brewers Rotation leans heavily left and KC as a team was 34-18 vs LHP (.654) It’s going to be a tight series thanks to that stat but I just don’t think Kansas City has enough bats to overcome a Milwaukee team that constantly wears down pitching staffs. But of course if it goes to a game 5 and Blyleven starts with the game on the line KC can feel pretty good about themselves.

Brewers in 4

Orioles 101-61 vs Twins 80-82 Season Series even 6-6

Baltimore lived by the long ball. Their 222 HR were not only the most in the AL by 55 they were a full 35 HR over Cincinnati which has one of the most devastating lineups in the game. They lead the majors in slugging and OBS with four players hitting over 30 HR (Amos Otis 36, Doug Rader 34, Davey Johnson 34 and Gene Tenace 32. Otis excelled in almost every category coming in 2nd in the MVP vote by only a point. In a league where only five qualifying batters hit .300 or better Baltimore had two (Otis .308 and Al Bumbry .302) along with Rich Coggins who with 407 plate appearances didn’t qualify but hit .322. That meant plenty of men on base as the balls cleared the fences. Tenace, Coggins, Otis, Bumbry and John Milner all had OBP from .360 (Tenace) to .387 (Otis) Three men scored over 100 runs (Otis, Johnson and Bumbry) and Tenace was only 3 runs short of being the 4th.

If all that power wasn’t enough Baltimore’s 3.72 ERA was very respectable and their top four starters Dave Roberts 18-11 3.22, Steve Renko 18-8 3.40, Andy Messerschmidt 21-11 3.61 and Rookie Jim Slaton 15-8 3.62 (a steal from Milwaukee last season) all with WHIP’s running from 1.16-1.35 means very few teams will get a chance to match them run for run. Closer Bob Locker managed 23 saves with only five blown and a 1.10 WHIP meaning that if they get to the 8th with a lead it’s likely not going anywhere.

Secret Weapon. In a league with few steals Al Bumbry 11 SB 1 CS and Don Baylor 8 SB 1 CS are a threat to run if given a chance

Minnesota Twins 80-82 2nd Wild card:

For the Twins team evaluation from wild card series click here.

Minnesota beats Cleveland 2-1

Game one:

Stan Bashan did his best Bert Blyleven imitation holding the tribe’s bats to five hits and one run over 9 innings. Meanwhile the twins two runs in the second on a Hisle single the third of three to start the inning and a fielders choice was more than enough to do the job even if they hadn’t added 3 in the sixth and another in the 8th

Twins 7 Indians 1

Game 2:

The Twins and the Tribe traded single runs back and forth off of Bob Moose and Dave McNally until Tony Perez went long with a man on in the 6th one of only 5 hits given up by McNally in 7 innings but Moose pitched 9 and gave up only one hit more to even things up

Indians 4 Twins 2

Game 3

The indians had their ace Jon Matlack for game three while the Twins answered with Alexander. The tribe struck first with one in the 3nd off a Hebner error after a walk and single but in the bottom of the inning. Al Oliver singled and Ray Fossie doubled him in to tie the game and then Mark Belanger throwing error plated Fossie and Sent Grich to 2nd with nobody out. He made it to 3rd on an Appricio single and scored on a Sac fly making it 3-1 when Buddy Bell returned the favor with an error of his own loading the bases and allowing Aparicio to score on a fielders choice. They never looked back. Each team traded a run later on but once Sparky Lyle came on the mound in the 9th the series belonged to Minnesota as he retired the side in order.

Twins 5 Indians 2

The pick: Baltimore is facing a Twins team that just won a close and played them even all season but it’s impossible to ignore the combination of this lineup with this rotation. I can’t see Minnesota pulling it off although if they can get a lead Lyle can give them a game

Orioles in 4

Chicago Cubs (79 – 83 ) at Cincinnati Reds: 120-42

Cincy won season series 8-4

Cubs 79-83 Won wild card in 3 games For team eval click here

Game 1 Burt Hooten held the Braves to a single run while Jeff Burroughs went deep on Catfish Hunter who was removed for a pinch hitter after giving up 4 runs in two innings. Those four were all the Cubs would need.

Chicago 9 Atlanta 1

Game 2

It was Fergie Jenkins who went long only giving up a pair of runs over 8 innings while Chicago went hitless with runners in scoring position. Rick Reuschel pitched into the 7th giving up 4 runs and a pair of homers but while Rollie Fingers gave up a solo shot it in the 9th it wasn’t enough to save the day.

Atlanta 6 Cubs 3

Game 3

Neither starter lasted Kooseman out after three innings and two runs while Decker also gave up a pair of runs but lasted an inning longer. However the Cubs advanced getting one in the 6th, two in the 7th and adding one more in the ninth thanks to going 5-17 with runners in scoring position while the Bravos managed only a single hit in seven such opportunities as three Cubs relievers managed six innings of shutout ball.

Chicago 6 Atlanta 2

Biggest surprise: Caesar Cedeno who had a spectacular season managed only one single in 11 trips to the plate

Cincinnati Reds 120-42

Cincinnati dominated the National League and everyone else making deal after deal to improve their team until they rolled up a final lineup Trades brought the Willie Stargell (.280 31 HR 117 RBI) Bill Sudakis (.282 26 HR 66 RBI) John Mayberry (.253 24 HR 80 RBI), Thurman Munson (.302 11 HR 68 RBI) and Ken Singleton ( .302 13 HR 78 RBI’s) Meanwhile hometown talent Joe Morgan scored an amazing 164 runs thanks to an obp of .402 while stealing 54 bases and Toby Harrah managed 16 HR and 69 RBI while batting .278 and Rookie Ken Griffey batted .322 in part time play a sign of great things to come.

Meanwhile when you look at the stats of the arms in Cincy you notice one amazing fact: The worst ERA for any pitcher who even pitched part of a season for the Reds is 4.80 and the WORST on the current roster who pitched 20 innings or more is Don Gullett who went 15-8 with an ERA of 3.83. Again trades made the difference Jim Brewer 6-1 out of the pen with an ERA of 3.50 & a WHIP of 1.27, Starter Jack Billingham acquired early in the season won 19 of his 20 wins for the Reds with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Bill Bonham 5-3 with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Mel Stottlemyre 15-3 3.01 ERA and 1.34 WHIP and finally ageless Don McMahon who went 4-0 with an ERA of 0.96 at the age of 43. But home grown relivers like Pedro Borbon 13-8 22 saves and Dick Barney (10-0) certainly did their share.

And if all of that wasn’t enough their .986 fielding percentage was 4th best in the majors and only a single point behind the 3 leaders.

Secret Weapon: In a league full of base stealers Reds Catchers threw out 14 in 29 attempts (.483)

Peter’s pick: One has to give the Cubs credit for pluck they managed to eliminate a stronger Braves team in three games but facing a team 2nd in the majors in pitching (3.23) OBP (.346 1st in NL) slugging (.429 1st in NL) , 4th in fielding (.986) and first in batting (.265) in the Majors I can’t see pluck managing to win more than one game at best.

Reds in 4

Pittsburgh Pirates 95-67 vs Los Angeles Dodgers 110-52 Pittsburgh 6-4 season series

Pirates 1st Wild Card

Rod Carew hit .353 to lead the majors and scored 121 runs thanks to a .419 OBP while driving in 83. Tommy Harper had a resurgent year scoring 117 of his own while hitting 17 HR and stealing 19 bases. George Scott (.295 16 HR 83 RBI) and Bill Melton (,279 23 HR 88 RBI) gave plenty of people fits but Hammering Hank Aaron ruled the roost smacking 53 Home Runs and driving in 147 while scoring 113 of his own with an OBP of .389. Only Cincy drove in more runs than the Pirates

On the Mound Gaylord Perry had another banner year going 15-7 with an ERA of 2.42 and a WHIP of 1.19. Despite giving up 18 HR in 247 innings Jim Colburn went 15-6 and posted a 3.17 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Bill Singer was the hard luck man in the rotation. Batters only hit .213 against him, he put up a WHIP of 1.21 and an ERA of 3.11 but only managed a 14-14 record. Even worse for the Pirates foes if the game got to the 8th or 9th on came Mike Marshall who saved 25 of 29 and went 13-8 in 63 games of relief.

Finally the Pirates had the best defense in the majors with the fewest errors in the majors.

Secret Weapon. Tom Bradly who worked both a starter and a reliver and was highly effective in both locations.

Add these things together and it means a lot of trouble for a lot of good teams with better records.

LA Dodgers 1st in NL Beta Division:

Batting: Willie McCovey .261 34 HR and 90 RBI was a terror to pitchers in the league, so much so that they walked him 132 times (against only 107 k’s). Joe Ferguson only managed to hit .210 but hit 24 HR and drove in 77 when he did hit. Mike Lum and Garry Maddox both hit over .300 to support the cause which helped them to a +243 run differental.

But the real reason for that number was the pitching. The TEAM ERA of the Dodgers was 2.49! That’s just under 3/4 of a run less than any other major league team. The duo of Tom Seaver (7-3 2.50) acquired from the Daytraders and Don Sutton 22-10 2.32 are a devastating pair. The underrated Wayne Twitchell went 16-7 with a 2.49 ERA a WHIP of 1.07 and an avg against .191 while pitching 3rd in the rotation. To put it all in perspective. The pitcher who did the worst for them was J. R. Richard who had a 3.46 ERA with batters hitting .206 against him. He’s the #5 man.

The Dodgers have a good offense but not overpowering however their rotation is so much better than anyone else how does a team manage to have a chance?

Peter’s Pick

If there was a series of the week this one would be it. Two formidable teams with two excellent managers. By sheer numbers one must make the Dodgers who finished a full 15 games ahead of the Bucks the edge but that didn’t stop Pittsburgh from winning the season series. Basically star studded hitting (Pit) with one great pitcher and plenty of very good ones vs a star studded rotation with one star hitter and an excellent supporting cast. With the #1 & 2 NL Cy Young pitchers and a team ERA almost a full runner better than Pit the Dodgers will be stingy but I have a feeling that Hammering Hank will get the last laugh.

Pirates in 5 but just barely

And Finally the NL Beta Division of our 1973 Dynasty league

Posted: May 25, 2025 by datechguy in Dynasty, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
Tags: , , ,

We’ve looked at the AL Alpha Division here:

We’ve looked at the AL Beta Division here

We examined the NL Alpha Division here

Now let’s go and check out the final division in our 1973 Dynasty the NL Beta division.

TeamWinsLossesPercentageGBWCGB
Los Angeles Dodgers8140.669—–+22
Pittsburgh Pirates7462.5978 1/2+13 1/2
Chicago Cubs5962.48822—–
New York Giants5170.42130-8
Montreal Expos5171.41830 1/2-8 1/2

Los Angeles Dodgers:

LA has risen from the ashes of a last place season to the top of their division and like the Reds in the Alpha division has not been shy about big deals. Nolan Ryan dealt to the NY Giants while Tom Seaver and Denny Doyle acquired from the Daytraders. Vida Blue to the daytraders, Ted Sizemore from the Giants.

Some rookies have been dealt. Davey Lopes and Mickey Rivers to the Daytraders but others have remained to be the core with Don Sutton 16-7 2.15 ERA with 193 K’s leads the rotation while Wayne Twitchell 13-5 2.38 in his 2nd full season along with veteran Reggie Cleveland having the best season of his career and Grant Jackson has been perfect in the bullpen 12 saves in 12 chances and an ERA of only 1.25. Young J. R. Richard has not quite gotten there yet although he has 94K’s in. The team ERA of 2.53 is a full .7 runs less than every other team giving up only 63 home runs and the 307 earned runs are a full 100 less than any other MLB team.

Veteran slugger Willie McCovey meanwhile has done the job with 29 HR and Dave Roberts has put up fair numbers but the offense has not been the star of this show but they’ve managed a bit of slugging 3rd in the NL

The Dodgers have winning records against both the Braves and the Dodgers and every current playoff team except Baltimore (1-2) and Pittsburgh (3-4) with a series left against each. This bodes very well for the post season in a division that they have pretty much locked up.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh surprised everyone by easily eliminating Cincinnati last season and fought the Giants in one of the most epic playoff series in league history. This year they’re led by Hammering Hank Aaron who leads the majors with 40 Home Runs and 112 Runs Batted In while Rod Carew sets the table hitting .349 with 172 hits and 14 triples all best in the majors and OPS of .948 and 92 runs scored (4th in the league). Rookie Dave Parker looks promising, Bill Melton’s 16 HR are below is peak but up from last year’s injury prone season, George Scott keeps flashing the glove with enough hitting to go along with it

On the mound Gaylord Perry is having another great year, 12-6 with a 2.41 ERA 5th in the majors. Bill Singer 13-9 with 2.61 8th in the majors. Starters Jim Colburn 12-6 2.98 & Tom Bradley 11-6 3.45 are both having career years. And keeping the games they pitch in hand at 9-5 with 21 saves blowing only 3 is Mike Marshall.

Put simply Pittsburgh has the stars and the pitching to win any series they’re in and only Cincy is more deadly on turf.

Between LA & Cincy they are .500 and as well managed as they are will be a deadly threat to any team that faces them in the playoffs. They have the stars and the pitching to carry them all the way all they have to do is get past the two best teams in the league and I wouldn’t want to be the guy who has to bet against them.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are an enigma. While Starters Burt Hooten & Rick Reuschel have done yeoman’s work Jerry Koosman is still not up to his days with Oakland although in fairness he’s doing better than last season’s disaster. Fortunately John Hiller 25 saves with only 5 blown means if Chicago can get a lead to him they’ll usually keep it.

Le Grande Orange Rusty Staub has been instrumental in getting those leads, his numbers .320 17HR 63 RBI are the best he’s had. Young Jeff Burroughs 20 home runs are making Washington regret not keeping him and Steve Garvey is also putting up the best numbers of his career. With a supporting cast hitting .259 as a team (2nd in NL 3rd in majors) they’re getting on base a lot but not enough. Their -44 run differential does not impress.

Nevertheless they have a commanding lead for the final wild card spot but are the same distance away from Atlanta for the 2nd. So a playoff spot is nearly assured, what remains to be seen is if they can do better than just a playoff spot. They’ll have to punch up to win a wild card series but with the potential competition they’ll have to get by (LA, Pittsburgh & Cincinnati) they’ll really have to go above their weight grade to even think about going farther.

New York Giants

The only thing more surprising than the the franchise swap between the A’s and Giants was the decision to return to NYC and share the Polo Grounds with the Yankees.

It’s very clear the Giants are building for next year and their acquisition of fireballer Nolan Ryan is a real sign of it. His 4-2 record and 1.67 ERA since joining the team and his .185 avg against leading the Majors means the NY ace is capable of stealing a game from any team they face by pitching alone.

But he’s not alone Reggie Jackson’s 39 HR and 98 RBI and .305 avg is just behind Aaron for the lead and Craig Nettles, now playing for his 3rd NYC team keeps improving. but this is a team building for the future. Their team ERA of 4.69 is rock bottom despite

  1. the top rated Defense in the Majors
  2. Bill Freehan who, while not hitting remains one of the best game callers in baseball
  3. The addition of Ryan

Unless the young bats develop and the pitching improves It will be a while before we see this team back in contention for a pennant.

Montreal Expos

On paper Montreal should be a lot better team that it is. Rookie Starter Steve Rogers 10-6 2.74 ERA WHIP 1.02 is top 10 in multiple categories. They boast of Luis Tiant with a 2.81 ERA despite a 10-12 record and Lou Brock who has stolen 39 bases while hitting .315 and Dave Nelson stealing 29 of his own while only being caught 4 times.

Alas closer Tug McGraw has an ERA over 5. Rookie Ron Cey while showing power (14 HR) has not reached anywhere near his potential and the rest of the batting crowd while hitting a respectable .251 and driving in runs above the league avg just aren’t getting it done. The .980 fielding percentage tied for 3rd worst in the Majors might have something to do with it.

They’re good enough to make a team pay that takes them lightly but they’re just as likely to let a game get away. By the numbers they should be doing better perhaps even contending for a wild card spot, but the breaks just haven’t been there.

And in the Alpha Division of the 1973 National League…

Posted: May 23, 2025 by datechguy in Dynasty, dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
Tags: , , ,

Write-up of the AL Alpha here:

Now let’s look at the NL Alpha Division

TeamWinsLossesPercentageGBWCGB
Cincinnati Reds (Cin City)8635.711—–+27
Atlanta Braves (Bravos)6656.54120 1/2+6 1/2
St Louis Cardinals5468.44332 1/2– 5 1/2
New York Mets (Daytraders)4973.40237 1/2-10 1/2
Philadelphia Phillies 4777.37940 1/213 1/2

Cincinnati Reds (Cin City):

Last season the Reds despite a powerful team squeaked into the final wild card spot only to be swept by Pittsburgh. This season they have built a juggernaught that is steamrolling everything in sight and anything they didn’t have they traded for. This Reds team that has been so active in the trade market that they should be called the day traders. Cincy leads the NL in slugging and despite playing most games without a DL has a slugging avg 2nd to only Baltimore in the AL. The are also 3rd in the majors in ERA and that combination has given them an insurmountable lead both in their division and best record in the majors. They’re led by Willie Stargel (acquired from the Daytraders) with 24 HR for the team (31 over all) Ken Singleton (acquired from Cleveland) hitting .331 for them (.314 over all) Bill Sudakis (acquired from the Yankees along with Thurman Munson for Johnny Bench) with 16 HR (24 over all). Ironically Joe Morgan one of the few stars who has been here all year is having an off year but still leads the league in walks and SB’s.

On the Mound Randy Jones (8-2 2.38) Mel Stottlemyre (acquired from Cleveland) 6-2 (14-7 overall) Sonny Siebert (7-2) Jack Billingham (acquired from Montreal) 12-8 (13-12 overall) and Don Gullet (10-7) have all bee adequate but it’s the bullpen that has shined with the ever young Don McMahon (acquired from St Louis) at 4-0 1 save 0.96 ERA, Dick Barney 10-0 1.76 ERA and Pedro Borbon 11-7 2.33 ERA with 16 saves (but 7 blown ones) that have really done the job. Add to that a .985 fielding percentage (3rd in NL) and you have a team that’s almost impossible to beat.

The one danger to the team is a short series and a hot pitcher or a spate of injuries. The question is who will they bench to save for the playoffs? The irony almost nobody on the team is among the league leaders because so many have come from elsewhere and don’t quality. Only Stargell who was traded early competes 2nd in doubles and 3rd in HR & RBI.

Atlanta Braves (Bravos) Atlanta won the beta last year but like the reds were stunned last year by the Daytraders (Mets) who would go on the win the Pennant. This year Atlanta is defying the odds of a division winner and have built a strong team with Caesar Cedeno making a strong case for MVP being in the top 10 in almost every offensive category and Dusty Baker who has 9 triples to go along with 14 HR and 22 doubles.

One the mound Ferguson Jenkins has already matched his 17 wins from last season. Tom Hilgendorf has gone 10-3 out of the pen while Rollie Fingers has managed 13 saves with only two blown ones.

The big danger for Atlanta has been fielding their 106 errors and .976 fielding percentage is the worst in the majors. Don Money (acquired from Montreal) has hit .271 while making 13 errors at short which isn’t bad. The question is can Jenkins, Catfish Hunter (11-7) and the pen and Jenkins overcome those extra gift outs?

St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis has some serious strengths Matty Alou is hitting .290, Lee May has slugged 25 HR and managed 7 triples Bob Gibson has 164 k’s and 2.50 ERA along with Ken Brett 3.16 ERA can beat any team but on the down side Jim Bibby despite a respectable 3.64 ERA is only 3-10 while Tom Hall out of the bullpen is having the worst season of his career with an ERA a full 2 runs over his lifetime stats (5.10 vs 3.16) and alas May’s 25 HR is more than the rest of the team combined (17).

Despite this the Cardinals have the 2nd best ERA in the majors (3.26) and WHIP (1.22) however their save percentage is barely over 50% 18 saves 17 blown saves and are near the bottom of the majors in on base percentage (.304). Still they’ve also caught 20 of 25 people trying to steal so you never know which Cardinals team will be there.

Put simply the well managed Cards are close enough to make a run for that final wild card spot but will their front office decide that they’d rather sell and retool or make a run? We’ll find out.

New York Mets (Daytraders)

Last year’s pennant winners started strong but began to fade and have begun to trade assets. Willie Stargell has been dealt to Cincinnati. Tom Seaver to LA with rookie Davey Lopes coming back along with Vida Blue currently leading the NL in ERA (who LA got from the Giants) while retaining Phil Niekro and Jim Perry who they hope will return to his winning ways from his days in Cleveland.

The biggest disappointment has been Lefty Steve Carlton who ERA has only gone up slightly from last season (3.30 vs 3.14) but has put up a 5-12 record. Ron Bloomberg has respectable numbers (.291 12 HR 34 RBI). but their .238 avg is 2nd to last in the NL. Furthermore only Atlanta is doing worse in the field (.979) and their On Base percentage is less than .300 (.299)

In short the Daytraders are rebuilding and it’s only a question of what assets they will trade and which they will keep. With the trade deadline coming we will soon find out.

Philadelphia Phillies:

Philly has one of the most feared lineups in the league. Bill Robinson has 28 HR and 98 RBI’s Rookie Mike Schmidt despite a .176 avg has hit 18 HR and 2nd year man Greg Luzinski has 14 HR with a much better batting avg .248. Philly is 4th in the NL in runs scored , Home Runs, 3rd in the NL in doubles. No lead is safe against them and no hurler wants to face this lineup.

Unfortunately for them their 4.50 ERA is 2nd worst in the majors. Their 1.51 WHIP is the worst in the majors and their bullpen has blown more saves (26) then they’ve converted (22). Combine this with their Ace Fritz Peterson having one of his worst seasons (4.09 ERA) with batters hitting .375 with the bases loaded.

Put simply Philly isn’t going anywhere this season but with the worst record in the NL they’ll be able to keep all their power and Schmidt and Luzinski will only get better. If they can acquire anything resembling decent pitching they will be a force to be reckoned with for years.

Rules for the 1973 Dynasty Draft Baseball League

Posted: October 25, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, entertainment, gaming, online gaming
Tags: , ,

How the league is to be played

We will be playing the 1973 season which was released by Dynasty mid season during our last season. We will be playing under 1973 rules with three exceptions:

  1. There will be at least one interleague home and away series played to allow each player to play each other player at least once.
  2. The DH rule was introduced into the AL in 73 but not the NL. Therefore all games played in AL parks will be played with a DH. No games played in an NL park will have a DH.
  3. The playoff structure will include wild cards (3 per league)

The schedule

If we remain at 20 teams the schedule will remain as it was before as the system automatically migrates the old schedule. This will save a lot of work My goal will be to have the schedule ready before the draft.

Number of games:

We will be playing 162 games Two series (one home and one away 6 games ) against teams in the opposite league and Four series against in league teams. Because of the number of teams there will be a slight imbalance

Six same league teams (Four 3 game series 12 games)
Three same league teams (Two 3 game series, Two 2 game series 10 games)

All those team determinations will be random.

Frequency of games

There will be two scheduled series per week. Most series will be 3 games there will be 6 two game series during the season.

Number of teams

We currently have 20 teams.

Division setup:

Barring expansion with 20 teams we will have two five team divisions in each league. There will be three wild card teams. Both division winners and the wild card team with the best record will get a first round bye in the playoffs.

PREDRAFT AND DRAFT DAY TRADE WINDOWS!

Pre-Draft Trade window:

There will be a 48 hour window before the formal draft where trading will be allowed.

Any player on the roster (rookie or retained player) may be dealt along with drift picks up to the 7th round at this time.

Only draft picks for the upcoming draft will be tradable.

The trade window will end 15 minutes before the start of the formal draft to allow for any updates to lists to be recorded before the start.

Draft Day Trading up or down window.

At the end of each round there will be a 10 minute window for rosters to be adjusted and all the paperwork to be done.

For the first five rounds of the draft During those 10 minutes teams will be allowed to Trade. NO PICKS BEYOND THE 7th ROUND ARE TRADABLE. At the start of the 6th round Trading is closed in the league till after the 5th series of the regular season.

In Season Trades and waivers (Note change in when waivers starts).

After the fifth series of the season teams may trade. Any player on the current roster may be traded along with any of the first seven draft picks for the next season (1974) If a trade is made that increases a roster beyond the 40 man limit a player must be released before the next series is played. Any trades agreed will not be executed until all the teams involved have the same amount of games played.

Waivers takes place after the 2nd series. Teams make waivers picked based on their current record and are made from the undrafted players not on rosters.. If a pick brings a Roster over 40 a player must be released or an injured player not on the DL must be placed there to make room.

NEW Contested, Uncontested and Emergency Waivers

NEW: Contested Waivers

Contested waivers are waivers picks made after week 5 and works like this:

  1. A team submits a waivers pick from Friday to Sunday
  2. Another team may usurp that pick and make it theirs if
    • It has a worse record than the 1st team
    • It has not already made waivers pick
    • It has not already tried to usurp a different pick
    • No team worse than them has tried to usurp it
    • They make the attempt 9 PM EST Monday
  3. If no team makes a counter claim on the pick by 10 PM EST Monday the waivers pick is successful.
  4. If a team successfully usurps the tip go to step 1 as if the usurping team make the pick

New UNCONTESTED WAIVERS

Uncontested waivers picks are waivers picks that take place from weeks 2-5.

The picks are automatically successful and are decided on a first come first served basis. If you unknowingly submit a pick for a player who has already been claimed you may pick again.

Regardless of success the player won’t be added to your roster till your Friday games for that week are completed.

NEW EMERGENCY WAIVERS

On rare occasions due to multiple injuries, suspensions or very long extra inning games or any combination thereof a team may not have a pitcher available to start or a player to play a position for their next series. In such a situation a team may contact the commissioner for Emergency Waivers.

If granted said team may make an uncontested waivers pick to either get the needed starting pitching or position player to fill the spot.

Said pick MUST be made at the end of a series or before the next as the Dynasty system doesn’t allow changes to the 40 man roster while a series is active.

If an emergency pick puts the team over 40 players a player must be released to get the roster back to 40.

If an emergency pick needs to be made for a computer team the commissioner will make the pick. Priority will be given to any qualifying player whose card is from the team needing the pick.

NOTE if a player drops out of the league and we have an empty team any draft picks he has traded those trades are still valid and will be picked by the team that received it.

Example: If the Cubs traded the NYY their 3rd round draft pick last season but were not an active team this year then during round 3 the Yankees would get the 2nd pick of the round as if they were.

The DL:

In a change from previous seasons players on the DL WILL count toward your roster but to make up for it we will have a maximum 40 man roster. We will still only draft to 30 players but players may expand their rosters via trade and waivers.

Playing Games.

All games must be completed before the next scheduled series. the Dynasty system will take over and auto play any games that are not completed one hour before the next scheduled game (even if said unfinished game is in progress) Players are encouraged to use the chat room and the Dynasty message system to reschedule games if needed and are also encouraged to make a manager profile in case a game has to autoplay. Instructions on how to do that are here.

Be aware that if you have your team on AUTO and your opponent requests a rescheduled in the system Dynasty will automatically allow it so keep this in mind when or if you turn auto on. Also be aware if both team are on auto and you reschedule the game will be played automatically so make sure your team is not on auto before you do this.

Etiquette for no/call no show

This is a game and real life trumps it so there will be times when people miss their game days. Here is some suggested game day Etiquette:

  1. If you know in advance you can’t play on the scheduled game day and time try to contact your opponent to arrange a different time both through the chat room and the dynasty system.
  2. If gameday comes and your team is on AUTO your scheduled opponent should assume they can play all or part of their series if they choose.
  3. If gameday comes and you haven’t heard from your opponent check your “Friends” list to see when the last time they signed on was. If it is 10 days or more then play the series vs the PC
  4. Give two five minute waits: Wait 5 min for opponent to show periods before starting the game//If your opponent hasn’t shown up by then begin game 1.
    • Once game 1 is done. You have 2 choices. Either if followed is officially considered valid:
      • Give one 5 minutes period for your opponent to show if he doesn’t, Autoplay
      • Exit and let the system auto schedule for 24 hours from now. Then go to step 1
    • If you have to leave in the middle of a game or series your opponent has the right to continue to play. They may choose to agree to reschedule but experience tells me it’s bet to get the games done.
  5. On occasions when you and your opponent are in touch but just can’t seem to find a time when both are available I make the following suggestion.
    • The player who shows up on gameday should play one game (2 game series) or two games (3-4 game series) against the pc.
    • When those games are finished exit the system and put yourself on Auto being sure to check the “Take my team off auto after this series”
    • Then your opponent can finish the series as his or her time permits
  6. Keep in mind that the Dynasty system is designed to keep games moving the default position should always be to get games played when possible.
  7. Be aware if you’re running late you can join a game in progress and take over
  8. If you do show up and take over please let your opponent know via chat.

If you know you’re going to be gone let your opponent know. 

Expansion and Expansion draft

If there is a sudden interest in the league we may have an expansion draft under the following rules:

Selecting a franchise:

New players who do not take an existing franchise will be allowed to select any of the four currently open franchises they are:

AL

  • Chicago White sox
  • Detroit Tigers

NL

  • San Diego Padres
  • Houston Astros

They will automatically gain the rights to any rookies for the 1973 team of that franchise.

If we again have multiple expansion teams they will pick franchises in the order that they confirmed their intent to join the league.

If a current player expresses an intent to leave the league before the expansion draft the expansion players will in the order above be given the option of taking over that existing franchise including their roster and current draft picks (or lack thereof)

Expansion Draft:

If an expansion draft is announced each team will have two weeks to submit a list of protected players currently on their 40 man rosters. These players will not be eligible to be drafted in the expansion draft. There will be a maximum of 7 players on each teams protected list. it is recommended (but not required) to submit an additional twelve players to be protected once a player or two is drafted from their team.

Whenever a player is chosen off a team in the expansion draft said team will be able to immediately protect an additional five players. No team can lose more than three payers to the expansion draft. If a list is not submitted before the draft and not submitted at the time the first player is taken from the team then said team will not have additional players protected until such a list is provided. I will allow a reasonable amount of time in case the player is not in the chat room for me to try to contact said player before another player is takin from his team.

Expansion teams must draft a minimum of four players and may pick up to a maximum of 12 players to their rosters before the regular draft. The number of players picked in the expansion draft by an expansion team will determine where they will draft in the regular draft.

As soon as all expansion teams have completed their drafts two things happen

  1. All teams must submit the list of players retained in the regular draft. The players drafted by the expansion teams are considered to be that list.
  2. All Rookies become property of their franchises and count toward their current rosters. but NOT toward their number of protected players.

Franchise locations and parks

Every team is presumed to have the park their team played in during the season they entered the league.

Franchises whose teams move in real life are not required to relocate their teams. So the Washington Senators are not required to move to Texas but they retain the option to do so at any time.

Franchises are NOT required to build new stadiums and may continue to play in their old stadiums if they wish but they retain the right to move into those new stadiums at any time so another team may NOT select that stadium. If a team chooses to move into their new park in the same city the old park is considered demolished UNLESS said park was still active in the year we are playing. It is considered by be undergoing renovation.

A team may NOT move into a park that in a different city because the Dynasty system bases the weather on the park used NOT the city that a team’s label claims it is in. Thus if the Seattle Pilots HAD to move to Milwaukee to play in Country Stadium.

A team may NOT move into a park in the same city that belongs to a future franchise. Example. If the Washington choose to remain in DC rather than move to Texas they may NOT move into the Nationals park. It is considered reserved for that franchise when it becomes available although I suspect none of us will live long enough to reach that point.

Old parks

A team MAY move into an old park from the same city under the following conditions:

  1. The park was once the home park of the franchise OR
  2. The franchise that once owned the park is now located in another city

Examples,

  • In 1971 the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee the Mariners if taken MAY move into Sick Stadium.
  • The Cardinals may move into Sportsman’s park because it was once their old stadium.
  • The Yankees were able to move into the Polo Grounds for 1972 because that park was in NY and the team was once based there. If at some future date they choose to move back to Yankee Stadium the Mets will be able if they choose to move to the Polo grounds because it was once their home park. If both teams move there and eventually move out then the park is considered demolished.

Rookies

A “Rookie” is define as any player who did not have a card for the previous season.

A rookie is considered to be part of the team listed on their card regardless of who they actually played their first game for (Dynasty lists cards based on who a player finishes a season with thus any rookie that was traded by an MLB team in his first season will have their card listed for the team they were traded to NOT the team they played their first game with.

All teams retain rights to their rookies prior to the draft and rookies for a franchise are not eligible to be drafted in any expansion draft.

A Rookie becomes a part of a team after said team names their protected players for the draft. They count toward the 40 man roster

Any team that doesn’t want to retain a rookie may release them before the draft to open up a roster spot but once release all rights to said player are surrendered.

Players retained list

All teams may retain a number of players based on their finish in the 1972 season.

  • World series winner 4 players (Yankees)
  • World series runner up 5 players (Daytraders)
  • non-world series Division winners 6 players (Bananas, Oakland (formally Giants), Brewers)
  • Wild Card Teams Winners that don’t make the series 7 players (Pirates, Redsox, Twins)
  • Wild Card game losers 8 players (Angels, Reds)
  • Non division winning teams with the 5th and 6th best records 9 players (Cardinals, Indians)
  • Non division winning teams with the 7th and 8th best record 10 players (San Francisco (formally A’s), Expos)
  • Teams with the 3rd-6th worst records 11 players (Senators, Royals, Orioles, Phillies)
  • Teams with the worst and 2nd worst record 12  players (Dodgers, Cubs)

NOTE: If a player on your current Roster does not have a card for the next season due to injury, military service etc but WILL the following year a team may choose to retain the rights to said player but will have to spend a protected spot for it and will have to keep a space for him all season.

Example: Rico Carty was out for all of 1971 due to injury. Boston could have decided to hold his rights playing 1971 with 39 players and thus hold the 1972 rights to Carty. If he had done so and then at any time he chooses to release him Carty would have been considered a rookie for Atlanta Rookie because

  1. He had no card the previous year
  2. No team held his rights
  3. His 1972 card says “Atlanta”

Boston choose not to retain so Carty was considered released. Carty’s 1972 card was with the Braves thus they did not have to put him on the retained list as he was considered a rookie for the team.

The draft order of teams has been posted here and will be repeated below taking into account the possibility of expansion teams. Any team that is not retained will of course not be drafting BUT If a team holds the draft pick of a team that is no longer in the league he will draft those picks as if that team was still in the league in the round that he holds them. Naturally if there is expansion this wouldn’t apply.

  1. Worst team (12) Los Angeles Dodgers (Bad News Bears)
  2. 2nd worst team (12) Chicago Cubs
  3. 3rd worst team (12) Baltimore Orioles1 (if an expansion team picks only 4 they draft ahead of the Orioles)
  4. 4th worst team (11) Kansas City Royals
  5. 5th worst team (11) Washington Senators (if an expansion team picks only 5 they draft ahead of the Senators)
  6. 6th worst team (11) Philadelphia Phillies
  7. 7th worst team (10) SF Giants (formally Oakland A’s) (An expansion team that picks only 6 drafts ahead of the Giants)
  8. 8th worst team (10) Montreal Expos
  9. 9th worst team (9) Cleveland Indians (An expansion team that picks only 7 picks ahead of the the Tribe)
  10. Best non playoff team (9) St Louis Cardinals 
  11. Wild Card game loser with worst record (8) California Angels (An expansion team that picks only 8 picks ahead of the Halos)
  12. Wild Card game loser with best record (8) Cincinnati Reds
  13. Divisional round loser with the worst record (7) Minnesota Twins (An expansion team that picks only 9 picks ahead of the Halos)
  14. Divisional Round loser with the 2nd worst record (7) Boston Red Sox
  15. Divisional Round loser with the 2nd best record (7) Pittsburgh Pirates (An Expansion Team that picks only 10 picks Ahead of the Bucs)
  16. Divisional Round Loser with best record (7) Atlanta Braves (Bananas)
  17. Worst Team that made it to the Pennant Series (6) Milwaukee Brewers
  18. Best team that made it to the Pennant Series (6) Oakland A’s (formally San Francisco Giants)
  19. World series loser (5) Mets (Daytraders) (An expansion team that picks only 11 picks ahead of them)
  20. Word series winner (4) Yankees Expansion Team(s) if any that draft 12 players pick after them

NOTES:

  1. The Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles has identical 62-100 records but the Royals went 7-5 vs Baltimore therefore the Orioles are considered worse and pick ahead of them. If their head to head records had been identical then Kansas City would have picked 3rd as they picked 19th in last years draft so had a worse start.

The first tiebreaker for non-playoff teams with identical records is head to head matchups The 2nd tiebreaker if teams had identical records AND split their season series is draft order for the previous season,

If two or more expansion teams draft the same number of players their draft position will be determined by a dice roll

When all teams have drafted that will be considered the end of a round and the next round will commence.

NEW DRAFT ENDS AT 30 PLAYERS

Teams must continue to draft in this order until their team reaches 25 men a team with 25 or more players may leave the draft at any time.

Once a team has dropped out of the draft they may not re-enter it and must increase their roster either through trades or waivers.

Teams who do not drop will will draft till they reach 30 men.

Formal & Informal Draft

Draft on designated Draft day(s):

A date and time will be set for the initial rounds of the draft. It will almost certainly be a Saturday or SUNDAY as those are the days I currently have off. All teams will be expected to be either:

  1. Available in the slack chat room (preferred)
  2. Available by phone
  3. With me in my home at the time of the draft
  4. Have a list of players to be drafted submitted

All current players are presumed to have looked over the card(s) for 1973 online or at least looked up stats by draft day. All expansion teams (if any) encouraged to start doing so at once.

  1. There will be one designated draft day per week.
  2. On a designated draft day a strict 5 minute limit will be allowed to make a pick.
  3. If a team misses their pick will be moved to after the next player on the list who will be considered on the clock and allowed to pick. Example Philadelphia misses their pick and Washington is next, Washington is allowed to pick and Philly picks after them
  4. If a team who has been skipped has to be skipped twice their pick can be made any time before the end of the round. Example Washington is scheduled to pick 10th They miss their pick If they figure out who they want they can make a pick or submit a list any time before the end of the round and that pick will be valid.
  5. If a team that has been skipped has not picked by the end of the round then a pick will be made for them by me. Said pick will be the player from your franchise who played the most games that season based on their card. Example: Boston does not pick or submit a list for round 5 I will look at the Roster for the actual 1972 red sox to see who is available. If Billy Conligiliaro has the most games played among unpicked players he will be Boston draft pick. If Boston already has 6 outfielders that will not matter Billy C becomes the pick.
  6. As soon as a round ends there is ten minute period to update rosters and list and confirm players. During that period Draft day trades may be made as per above.
  7. The opening Scheduled draft days will go on for 100 picks. Other scheduled draft days will be 60 picks. Once the number of picks is reached the clock is turned off
  8. The Formal Draft generally begins at either 11 AM or 1 PM EST to give west coast folk the time to be awake. Be aware of that if you are scheduled to pick

BE AWARE THAT EVEN WITH A FIVE MINUTE LIMIT THAT CAN MEAN 100 MINUTES FOR 20 TEAMS TO PICK IN ONE ROUND. PLEASE DO YOUR BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE DRAFT TO CUT DOWN ON THE TIME REQUIRED. The more prepared everyone is the faster things will go.

Picks off the clock and on non-draft days

As soon as the initial draft ends the “informal draft” begins

During the informal draft a team has 24 hours to make a pick. Picks can be submitted in the draft room or via the Dynasty message system or in person if the person picking is local or via the phone to me. If there is an existing list from the formal draft it will be used to continue the informal draft.

Once the pick is made and recorded on the draft sheet and the player moved to the roster I will announce the pick in the slack chat room and inform the person up, the person on deck and the person in the hole to be prepared to pick. Until you see that announcement the pick is not official.

The Informal draft ends when:

  • All teams have either 30 players or have dropped out OR
  • The next formal draft begins

The informal draft resumes after any formal draft that still has teams picking.

Be aware that trading can be made at any time during the informal draft until:

  • round seven is complete
  • 15 minutes before a formal draft that has not completed round 7

IMPORTANT: Once round seven of the draft is complete trading is finished until the end of week 5 of the season.

The season will begin one week after the draft is complete.

Finally be aware that the period from Black Friday till Christmas is the busiest time of the year with my employer and I may have mandatory overtime so the date of the formal draft might be affected.

Also be aware that during world hours (Mon-Fri 7 am-3:30) PM I have no access to the net nor do I own a cell phone if an issue comes up during that time which can’t wait refer it to the assistant commissioner

Important Update: The SF giants and the Oakland A’s switched teams so they have switched their spots in the draft and keeper list as well

If you have any questions not covered here please let me know.

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