Thursday, April 16, 2009

Mike Piazza Award

Voting Criteria - Please vote based on relative value of the pick (so consider round/pick), his success at varying levels (the higher the level the better), and his long-term prospects to contribute at the Big League Level.

Without further ado, here are the candidates submitted for the first Mike Piazza Award (covering seasons 1 - 6).

In Alphabetical Order:

Livan Baez - Season 3, Round 4, Pick 127, New York Mets, trooperbud

Oswaldo Concepcion - Season 2, Round 22, Pick 708, Minnesota Twins, zbrent716

Jake Howington - Season 4, Round 3, Pick 76, Nashville Sounds, tonywin33

Oswaldo Lee - Season 4, Round 8, Pick 251, Colorado Rockies, mr_stickball

Chris Leverton - Season 6, Round 3, Pick 92, Chicago White Sox, pfontaine

Tiny Towers - Season 4, Round 6, Pick 193, Boston Red Sox, Stewart_UK

Michael Urich - Season 4, Round 3, Pick 80, Houston Astros, coachdeal10

Power Ranking Results

Rank - Team - Votes - Record as of 4/16/09 AM game (Winning percentage)

#1 - Minnesota Twins - 9 - 42-18 (.700)
#2 - Houston Astros - 3 - 42-19 (.689)
#3(T) - Milwaukee Brewers - 2 - 32-29 (.525)
#3(T) - Oakland Athletics - 2 - 41-20 (.672)
#3(T) - Pittsburgh Pirates - 2 - 37-23 (.617)
#6(T) - Detroit Tigers - 1 - 39-21 (.650)
#6(T) - St. Louis Cardinals - 1 - 35-26 (.574)
#6(T) - San Francisco Giants - 1 - 30-30 (.500)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Owner Interview: tonywin33

1. How did you get into whatifsports?

I think I saw it on CNNSI.com. Always loved sim type games so I figured I would check it out. Been hooked ever since.

2. What is your favorite thing about HBD?

Trying to build the exact team I want; through draft, free agency, and trades. The only thing is, my ideal team keeps changing the more I learn about this game. More specifically the draft is what I spend the most time on. I'm a sucker for a good draft.

3. Least favorite thing about HBD?

So far, the playoffs. I know that sounds dumb, but let me explain. I have 6 real seasons (the other 3 were as a replacement owner for horrible teams) under my belt. I haven't been to the playoffs since my first season. When you're not in the playoffs, they seem to drag on forever. Hopefully that will change this year.

4. How did you find out about Major Leagues?

I think I saw an ad pnut posted in the classifieds. Looked like a good league at the time. Luckily, I was right. Best league I've been in by far.

5. Who is tonywin33?

A stay at home Dad by day and retail Loss Prevention at night. I was a Manager a couple of years ago but seeing my son about two hours a day didn't cut it. So when my daughter was born I went part-time and stayed home with both of them. I'll never be able to complain about not seeing my kids enough, that's for sure.

6. What are your favorite sports and/or sports teams?

Favorite sports are NFL (Carolina Panthers), MLB (Atlanta Braves), and Mixed Martial Arts

7. All-time favorite sports moment?

Toss up between watching the Panthers in the Super Bowl (on TV) and going to my first MLB game as a teenager. My parents, best friend, and I made a road trip to Shea Stadium to see the Reds (my favorite team before moving to Atlanta) play the Mets. Jose Rijo pitched a 3 hitter against the Mets that day.

8. What other baseball games have you previously played? (tabletop, fantasy, video, computer, i.e. anything from Strat-O-Matic to Baseball Mogul to RBI Baseball and everything in between)

Fantasy and Playstation mostly. Played some Front Office Football too.

9. What player, in your minor league system, has the most potential to be a star and why?

Vince Borbon SP in AA. My 1st ever pick with the Sounds. Should be an All Star pitcher at the ML level one day.

10. Who is your Franchise Player and/or team MVP?

The league leader in batting average right now, A.J. Hemingway. He just seems like he's built to play in the Nashville ballpark.

11. What are your team's prospects in the short, medium and long-term?

I've been able to improve my big league team without trading away all of my future prospects so I feel good about the medium and long term. Short term, this feels like the year for me to finally finish in something other than 2nd.

12. Who is your biggest Major Leagues rival?

Since Kansas City beat me for the division lead two of the last three years, I would probably go with them. Unfortunately, grissom left the league so it feels a little different this year.

13. What do you look for in a Hitter?

Good eye and splits. Depending on what I need at the time, power comes into play.

14. What do you look for in a Pitcher?

Control, Splits, Pitch #1,#2, and GB/FB. Playing in Nashville and against Texas all the time does not bode well for flyball pitchers.

15. What is the best move you’ve ever made in Major Leagues?

Nothing great yet. Best of the rest was probably signing 3B Glendon Stein a couple of season ago. He's been exceeding any expectations I had of him.

16. What is the worst move you’ve ever made in Major Leagues?

Probably putting P Darby Scott on the waiver wire last season. It's not that he was that great, but I essentially gave him away to the Yankees and then had to spend money to replace him with a free agent. Scott's been pretty decent for the Yankees the last season or so.

17. What is your most memorable HBD moment, any world?

I think winning my first playoff series will be my most memorable moment (when it happens). So until then, probably moving up to Division II in Hoops Dynasty. That was pretty cool even though I've dropped Hoops Dynasty altogether in favor of HBD.

18. What is your team’s #1 strength?

This team's strength has almost always been hitting. That seems to have continued this season, though I would like a few more home runs.

19. What is your team’s #1 weakness?

Pitching, pitching, pitching, followed by fielding. This team has had issues with pitching since I got here. I'm making some progress, but not enough yet.

20. In what ways, if any, do you think Major Leagues could improve?

Overall, it's a great league. Would like to see a couple of the powerhouses fall out of the playoffs though. Nothing personal pnut and zbrent.

Tonywin33 also offered up this nugget:

Bonus question: 21. Favorite all time movie? Cool Hand Luke

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Steal of the Draft - AKA Mike Piazza Award

With the Amateur Draft coming up, I thought it might be interesting to see who the very best player was out of those who "slipped through the cracks" in the first 6 seasons and was drafted in Round 3 or later.

So here's how we can do it - Go to World Office-->Reports-->Draft History. Set Season to "All", Franchise to your own Franchise, and Round(s) to 1-5, then 6-10, then 11-15, then 16-20, then 21-25. Check to see who you think was the very best prospect and/or the very best value pick your franchise drafted in Round 3 or later. As a shortcut, you can see the Current Level of the player all the way to the right. Odds are, if a player drafted Round 3 in S1 hasn't made the ML yet, he's not going to.

Post your Franchise's best value Round 3 or higher prospect and/or your franchise's best value pick in the comments. I'll collect them all, link them in a post, and we can vote for the winner of the Mike Piazza Award.

Power Ranking Poll

Please vote to the left for the one team you think is the best in the World right now. Voting closes on 4/14/09. Only teams with a .500 record or better were eligible.