OOTP 17

[Maxx]

Devil Rays game appears to have corrupted.  It just keeps crashing when I try to advance past a certain date.   Oh well, time to go back to the 1800s I guess.

[Maxx]

Started the 1871 random debut game with the Brooklyn Atlantics.  My first overall pick was Bryce Harper.  AJ Burnett was selected to anchor my one man rotation, it did not go well.  The great thing about starting in 1871 is that you can blaze through a whole season in about a half hour.  The inaugural rookie of the year went the Atlantics Pedro Alvarez, who lead the league with an impressive 3 home runs.

Simmed all the way up to the first ever MLB entry draft, where I landed Frank Robinson and Tim Lincecum.  Big Time Timmy Jim is rated ridiculously high, so I'm very interested to see how he does in this dead ball era.

[Meacon Keaton]

Well now I have to try this.

[The Buscher]

I'd love to see a bunch of perennial Gold Glove winners pop up in the 1870s and wind up on the same team to see if fielding makes any sort of difference.  There were routinely 10+ errors a game the last time I tried a game that far in the past.

[Maxx]

Kerry Wood is a force of nature in 1877.  35 wins, 438 Ks and a 1.43 ERA.  Triple Crown, 1877 World Series MVP, Gold Glove Winner and Pitcher of the Year, which may one day be named the Kerry Wood Award.

[The Buscher]

So not only did the 1964 Mets build on their .500 record from the year prior.....they entered the final weekend with 92 wins, tied with the Braves and 2-time defending World champion Dodgers.  Braves lost their last two games, the Dodgers lost won, and the Mets won both of theirs to win the pennant at 94-68.    AND then defeated the 103 win Twins in 7 games, with Don Mincher hitting for the cycle against his old team in a 10-1 Game 7 rout. 

Sam McDowell basically became Jake Arrieta down the stretch, leading the league with 21 wins and 292 K's, and his 1.96 ERA was a close second in the league (dammit Koufax).  Won both the MVP and Cy Young Awards.  Holy crap.

[Meacon Keaton]

Just now, Maxx said:

Started the 1871 random debut game with the Brooklyn Atlantics.  My first overall pick was Bryce Harper.  AJ Burnett was selected to anchor my one man rotation, it did not go well.  The great thing about starting in 1871 is that you can blaze through a whole season in about a half hour.  The inaugural rookie of the year went the Atlantics Pedro Alvarez, who lead the league with an impressive 3 home runs.

Simmed all the way up to the first ever MLB entry draft, where I landed Frank Robinson and Tim Lincecum.  Big Time Timmy Jim is rated ridiculously high, so I'm very interested to see how he does in this dead ball era.

I suggest everyone do this.

I have the Philadelphia Athletics and got the 2nd pick overall in the inaugural draft. I took Mike Trout. 

I'm now in December 1873. I have Clayton Kershaw as my pitcher, Ryan Braun in left, Trout in center, and Hank Aaron in right.

Mike Schmidt is at third, Ray Durham at second, and Chris Collabello (lol) at first. I just finished the season, where we lost in the World Series to the Reds. I look in my farm system and I'll be damned if I don't now have Bryce Harper. So I may package Braun and Collabello together for an upgrade at first base, putting Harper in my already amazing outfield.

This is so much more fun than modern day saves.

[Maxx]

Your game is being far more kind to you in drafts than mine is.  I got Pablo Sandoval...he won rookie of the year and MVP in the same year.  In the midst of a run of 5 straight World Series titles currently.

[DYSI]

Started a game in 1995 and a few weeks in Julio Franco announced his retirement. I don't think I can play a game this unrealistic.

[The Buscher]

I doubled down on championships, taking the 1965 World Series in a sweep of the White Sox behind my big three including yet another MVP/Cy Young season from McDowell.  In just four years I've matched the same level of success that the real Mets have had in 54 seasons.

It doesn't appear that a threepeat is in the offing though.  I'm 2 games over .500 and in 4th place at the All Star Break but 8 games behind the Cardinals.  I zip through a week or two without stopping to adjust my roster and it just seems my offense is really inconsistent, getting shut out plenty of times even though I had four hitters make the All Star team including ROTY frontrunner Joe Foy.

The bigger issue though is that Tommy John of course finally went down with an elbow injury in spring training, sidelining him for 4 months.  I'm not sure if he attempted to get a revolutionary new surgery done on him or what but in May on his 23rd birthday the news broke that his career was over.  FFS

[Maxx]

So...there's online multiplayer in this, I kinda of want to give it a go, especially since so many of us have it.  I just don't want to be the one in control as it will never go anywhere.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah I'd be interested in playing, but someone much more together and motivated than me would need to run it. Hell, it'd be fun to do the 1871 start, if we have eight players, with each of us taking a franchise.

[Trench]

Do you guys know if there is a way to do a fantasy draft with historic players and current players?

[KevinStorm]

On 4/18/2016 at 12:00, Maxx said:

I've realized its inevitable that I'm going to start a random debut game in the late 1800s.  Really hoping Jose Canseco is around from the start.

Also in my Devil Rays game, I'm still ruining every rookie pitcher I come across if they are only one star rated from the start.  Mark Prior was thankfully the exception, came in at 4 star rated right from the get go and immediately had a 21-8 season.  Now I just draft pitchers and trade them away.

Use the 20-80 scale for everyone.  It makes ratings a lot more meaningful.  Also, overall ratings don't mean much.  Use specific ratings as a guide instead.  And check personalities.  A lower-rated player with a very high work ethic will do better than a player with very low work ethic and a higher rating.

[Lowerdeck]

The online league I'm in just upgraded from OOTP 15 to 17, and I'm checking the new version out now.  Looks nice.

[Lowerdeck]

The online league I'm in is looking for more people, if anyone's interested. 

[Meacon Keaton]

What does being in an online league entail? I'm still not sure I know how it works. @Maxx

[Maxx]

No idea!

[Lowerdeck]

Twas worth a shot.

[Meacon Keaton]

@Lowerdeck I'm interested. I was asking how it works, and I tagged @Maxx to see if he was also interested.