Power Pros Forum

April 11, 2013

Mark Coley was calling me at 14,54.
Which was odd for him, since he usually never calls, and just has Preston call me.
But, regardless, I picked up.
"Mark? What's up?" I said
"Oh... Uh... Nothing... I've um... got a player for you to look at, Jack." He replied
"Alright, I'll be right there to check him out."

I headed down tho the office, and went up to Mark's office, which was right next to Preston's, conveniently.
I walked in to find the projector on (and no Preston, which was odd, since Mark was so shy) and it was showing an American kid by the name of Bobby Murphy.
"Well... uh... This is Bobby Murphy, apparently he is related to Bill Murphy of the Marines. He said that uh... He 'wants to be able to pitch better than his uncle' and to do that, he is willing to play in Japan. So... Uh... I think that we should, you know... Pick him up." He sheepishly said.
"Yeah, I think you're right. We should get him. How old is he? What are his stats?" I asked.
"Um... 22, I believe, is his age. And uh... Here, let me pull up the page on his stats."

Bobby Murphy
AGE, YEARS PRO, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
22, 0, S/R, 151 km/h (93 mph), C, A, down-left - 3, curveball - 2

"I think this will work." I said.
"Me too, sir... But uh... We can only pick up one player, and uh... We have him and Tomochika Nakazawa to choose from. Personally, I would go with _________ (Zumi, who would you choose?)"
"Oh... Right, I forgot about Nakazawa. I'll have to contact Todd, Preston, Ryan, and Bryan about this. I'll get back to you as soon as I hear from them."
"Alright sir... See you."
"See ya Mark."

I rushed home to send e-mails to Preston, Todd, Ryan, and Bryan to get their opinions on this matter. We'll see what happens.

I discovered (made) Murphy. He's not the most talented of my favorite discoveries (players I made) but he's the first one being given consideration to be used in here. Plus we also need pitching help. Of course I'd rather have him on the Tigers.

It's a pretty tough choice. I think I need more information to determine what the team needs more. Could I have the scouting reports for Minoru Iwata, Atsushi Nohmi, Takashi Toritani, and Riki Kawamoto, please?

I might end up importing Hirano, since I just noticed that he is better than Murphy... Awk.


Sure.

Minoru Iwata
AGE, YEARS PRO, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
29, 8, L/L, 149 km/h (91 mph), D, A, 2-seam fastball, slider - 5, curveball - 3, changeup - 1

He's very dependable, and has been the team's ace for the past 3 years. He won the pitching triple crown in either 2010 or 2011, I believe, and has lead the league in wins 4 years straight. His current ERA is 1.87.

Atsushi Nohmi
AGE, YEARS PRO, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
33, 9, L/L, 148 km/h (90 mph), C, B, 2-seam fastball, slider - 3, down - 3

He too, is very dependable, he has 4 blue abilities, and poker face. He's been in the 2 spot in our rotation ever since Iwata took over as the ace. His current ERA is 1.42

Takashi Toritani
AGE, YEARS PRO, POSITION, 2ND POSITION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
31, 10, SS, 3B, L/R, 3, B, B, B, B, B, A

A well balanced player, who is good at everything. I've had him batting third, but now he's batting lead-off due to the addition of Wada. He's probably one of my favorite players. He's currently batting .306, with 3 homeruns, and 11 RBI

Riki Kawamoto
AGE, YEARS PRO, POSITION, 2ND POSITION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
21, 3, OF, N/A, L/R, 2, B, C, B, A, C, B

Last year Riki was our lead-off guy, but since then he has moved down to where he started, batting 6th. He is good at getting on base, though in years past he has had trouble getting hits in the clutch. Although this year, he's been doing well at it. He's been in center since we've picked him up. He is currently batting .353, with no homeruns, and 14 RBI

If we were to pick up Nakazawa he would replace Wada in left, since Wada is 40. And also, I've noticed that PPJ had sent me a better starting pitcher, so I might go with him instead.

Oh, and also, if I was to pick up Nakazawa I would have to make a trade with one of my position players for a pitcher, since in Japan you can only have a limited number of position players, and the same goes for pitchers.

I feel that Murphy is a great, young talent. At only 22 years old, he has a long career ahead of him. The only thing I would fear about him is that he reached his peak too early. He is already a C, A at 22...I'm slightly nervous that after about his 4th season with us, he won't get any better and he may start his decline earlier than hoped.

There you have it.

I think that given our current lineup, Nakazawa doesn't offer much that we need. On the other hand, more pitching is always helpful, and Murphy is a very young and talented player that could contribute for a long time. I would go with Murphy.

I agree with all y'all (and thank you for your input! ), importing Murphy would be our best bet now.

BUT, I've just finished a new pitcher... And he's a lot different (a reliever/closer)...

ANYWAYS, here's a small story update to introduce him:

April 12, 2013

My cell phone rang, and I looked to see that it was Preston calling, I picked up.
"Jack, I know Mark called you yesterday about Bobby, but I just found out about someone who is entering free-agency." He said
"Really now? How is he doing that." I replied, in confusion
"Well, you see, since he is under the age of 25, and hasn't played yet, he is allowed to enter free agency."
"Oh... I didn't know that rule..."
"That's because it doesn't exist! I just found out about this kid, he's fresh out of college, and looking to sign with a team, come down to my office, and I'll show him to you."
"Alright, I'll be right down."
I hung up, and headed for his office.

I arrived there to meet Preston at the door, like usual.
He brought me up to his office, wit his computer on, and the screen showing a page of someone named "Takumi Terahara."
"Alright, Jack. First off, let me say, he's awesome. He had an ERA of 1.01 in the Koshien, he closed out 8 games in his 3 years playing on the first string team at Kaitou. His nickname was Dr. K, and boy, did he live up to it." He said
"Wow. Sounds good, can you give me his stats?" I asked.
"Sure, here they are:

Takumi Terahara
AGE, YEARS PRO, B/T, TOP SPD, CON, STAM, PITCHES
19, 0, R/R, 151 km/h (93 mph), B, D, knuckleball - 5, slider - 2

As you can see, he has a good fastball AND he drop in a good knucleball when needed. He has a slider too, to catch people sleeping."
"Hm... He's young, and he's got good stuff. Is he reliable?" I asked
"Of course! As I said, he saved 8 games in the Koshien, and lead his team to the championship. They won too!"
"No surprise, his class at Kaitou was very good. I heard stories about someone who had a horrible injury though, that must've been tough for the team."
"Actually, rumor has it, that it was him who had a potential career-ending injury. He completely blew-out his shoulder when he was a senior. Apparently he went to a shady doctor. Ithink his name was Dr. Goodjob, but I might be mistaken. Luckily for him, Goodjob somehow fixed it, and he was completely fine, if not better. This was swept under the rug, so nobody would think he was cheating in some form."
"Goodjob, eh? I've heard of him, he used to work over in America, he helped my buddy Mitch Anderson when he was playing in the minors, Mitch said that he helped him make it to the majors, though he has no idea what he did to him."
"Oh, so this Goodjob fellow is real? Hm... Whatever. So, what do you think about him? He's got as good of a fastball as Bobby's, plus a knuckleball, PLUS our bullpen REALLY needs some help. What do you think, him or Bobby? I would go with ________________ (PPJ?)."
"I'll have to think about this. We could either go with Bobby, who will help out the starting rotation. Or, now, Terahara, who can move into a middle-reliever role, since we don't really have any of them. This is tough, I'll have to contact Todd, Bryan, and Ryan again... Oh, and Mark too."
"Alright, get back to me if you want to pick him up."
"Oh, and we're going to get Nakazawa in this years draft, correct?"
"Correct, we are most certainly going to pick up Nakazawa, since Wada is most likely going to retire at the end of the year, Jack."
"Okay, cool. I'll get back to you."
"Alright."

I rushed back home to send off yet another email to Todd, Bryan, Ryan, and Mark. Hopefully they'll reply soon.
-----------------------------
So guys, what do you think, the rotation, or the bullpen?

I hate knuckleballers. I'm sticking with Murphy. Bullpen help is much easier to find through free agency anyways...

Assuming Jr is correct in that, I'll stick with Murphy as well. Plus, if the slider is like in the American PP games, it will get crushed. Another thing: the knuckleball is tough to catch, so you don't want to bring him in late with RISP and have him throw a passed ball.

Alright then, I guess the choice is unanimous, so far.

Murphy is the front runner, now we just have to wait for Mac, dnk, and [tm]

Go for Murphy.

Wait no longer, dawg

I agree with everything that has been said. I hate knuckleballers as well, and IMO starters are more valuable than relievers.

I don't think the tm comes on any more.

Ahem. Orly, now?

Anyways, I actually like knucleballers, I would go with Terahara, but since it wouldn't matter, Murphy it is! Welcome to the team!

Murphy it is then!

Hopefully I'll get another import card by the end of the season, so I can import Nakazawa at draft time!

Thanks guys, I'll update this once I'm done studying for my finals.