Power Pros Forum

Road trip! Can't wait!

Any ladies gonna be there?

December 12th, 1998

"Wake up, Matt!"
I groaned. "What time is it?"
"Seven-thirty," Preston replied. I groaned again. We had only arrived at our hotel four hours earlier, as the trip had taken most of the night. "C'mon, we've got to get down to the resort."

I reluctantly lifted myself from the bed and got dressed, donning a white dress shirt and dark pink tie along with blue suit pants. Preston, however, picked out a strange-looking red suit with a black vest and a ruffled white shirt.

"What the hell are you wearing?" I asked him.
Preston stuck up his nose at this. "Please, Matt, you just don't understand fashion."

After a quick breakfast, we left our hotel.
"Where are we going, anyway?" I wondered as we stepped into Preston's car.
"The Opryland Hotel," he replied, "in downtown Nashville."
"How far away is that?"
He shrugged. "About fifteen minutes, maybe."

Sure enough, we arrived after twenty minutes of driving. The Opryland Hotel was awe-inspiring, with an enormous garden out in front and tall white columns supporting the roof.

"So they just let anybody in this place?" I asked.
"Sure," Preston answered. "Luckily, the winter meetings aren't much of a spectator sport, so it won't be all that crowded."

It was still two weeks before Christmas, but the interior of the hotel was absolutely sprawling with Christmas lights and other such decorations. An extravagant chandelier hung from the center of the roof, likely providing more decoration than actual light. I hardly saw anyone in the lobby. Perhaps the actually meeting part hadn't started yet.

Preston tapped my on the shoulder. "Who's that?" he asked, gesturing to a middle-aged man sitting alone, reading a book.
"How should I know?"
"I don't know, you usually know all about owners and stuff."
"He's probably just some guy."
Preston shook his head. "He's wearing a Diamondbacks shirt."
"So? He could just be a fan."
"A Diamondbacks fan in Tennessee, reading alone in the lobby where the MLB winter meetings are taking place? I don't think so."
"Well, if you're so sure, why don't you go over and introduce yourself."
"Me? You do it."
"You're the one who insists he's-"
Our conversation was suddenly interrupted. "Who might you two gentleman be?"
Startled, we turned around to see him standing before us. His smile was warm, but I still felt intimidated. I froze, but Preston replied for me.
"I'm Preston Greene," he said, "MLB enthusiast and budding General Manager. And this is Matthew Weaver, also an MLB enthusiast and budding General Manager."
"I presume you two are here for the winter meetings?" The man asked.
"Yes, sir," Preston answered.
The man smiled. "It's always nice to see young men such as yourself taking an interest in the finer points of baseball. Myself, I'm Rodrick Reilly, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Well, partial owner, anyway." Reilly extended his hand, and Preston and I each shook it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," said Preston. "Say, what are your team's plans for the meetings, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Well, we're not looking to do much. We've already picked up Greg Swindell, but we're still maybe looking for another pitcher."
I spoke up. "Greg Swindell... he's not much of a starter anymore, is he?"
"Well," said Reilly, "he hasn't started since '95, but we think we can give him a shot."
"Sir... I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think that's a good idea," I suggested.
"Oh?"
I shook my head. "Swindell's stamina has really taken a dive, and he'll be 34 by the time the season starts. I'd recommend looking into some other options for starting pitching."
Reilly laughed. "You really think so?" I nodded. "Well, who would you pick up?"
"If I could pick from any free agent, I'd probably sign Randy Johnson."
"Randy Johnson? But he's older than Swindell."
"Sure, but he's got a lot left in the tank, if you ask me."
Reilly paused for a moment. He seemed to be thinking. "What did you say your name was?"
"Matthew Weaver, sir."
"Matthew Weaver..." Reilly mumbled, "I'll be sure to remember that."

Holy cow. You certainly did your research for this post. Nice job.

Heh, thanks for noticing.

What, exactly, are you referring to though?

That Greg Swindell was a reliever in 96, before he went to the Diamondbacks, and that Randy Johnson was a FA in the 1998-99 offseason.

That probably didn't take him any more than 3 minutes to find out

Heh, yeah. Also that the meetings were held at the Opryland Hotel as well as the description of it. I like to make sure my posts about the MLB are factually correct.

Overall, it was probably about 15 minutes of research.

Although Reilly is fictional.

Really? Huh

Well, I did take some time to figure out which players to use, so a lot of the time was spent researching players that aren't included in the post at all.

Ah, that makes sense

Why do you incessantly belittle?

Regardless, happy to see this back, mang

How am I belittling him? All I said is that I didn't think it would have took very long

The Gunmen log is back? Aw yeah!

Series Preview: Los Angeles Angels(6-3) vs. Honolulu Gunmen(5-4)
April 11th-13th

The Angels are currently tied for the division lead along with the Mariners... this is going to be a tough series.

Key Players:

Garret Anderson - DH
.313, 1 HR, 13 RBI, .389 OBP
3, C, B, E, F, D, B, Hot Hitter, 2nd Position 4, Timely Whiff, Aggressive HTR, Cautious STL
Bio: Garret Anderson is a seasoned veteran and long-time Angel who continues to supply plenty of pop in the middle of the lineup. His fielding and base running, however, have taken a dive over the last couple seasons.
Analysis: Anderson turns 36 this year, but he has showed no signs of slowing at the plate. His 13 RBI's are 5th in the American League, and his on-base percentage nothing to sneeze at.

Torii Hunter - CF
.235, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 2 3B
3, D, B, D, B, A, C, Gd IF HTR, Throwing 4, Consistency 4, Spider Catch, HD 1st Slide, Timely Whiff, Stealing 2, Pr Rain, Aggressive FLD
Bio: Torii Hunter, at age 32, is a perennial Gold Glove candidate who still hits the ball pretty well. Expect very few cheap singles to center, and precisely zero triples from the Gunmen offense.
Analysis: Hunter's batting average is a measly .235, but that doesn't make him any less of a threat. He's shown flashes of power with his five extra-base hits, and will likely bring his average up quite a bit by the end of the month.

Raul Alcarez - RF
.219, 1 HR, 4 RBI
3, B, B, D, C, D, B, Clutch Hit 5, Hot Hitter, Tough Out, Gd IF HTR, Rally Hitter, Throwing 2, Durability 2, Star
Bio: The 32-year old Raul Alcarez has been one of the most popular players in Los Angeles throughout his entire big league career. Perhaps he isn't the most graceful, as his proneness to injuries show, but he certainly holds his own at the plate and always seem to come through when it matters.
Analysis: Raul hasn't seemed to figure out his swing... yet.

Projected Pitching Match-ups:

Game 1
Johnny Rivera (0-1, 2.45) vs. Jered Weaver (1-0, 0.00, 11 K)

Game 1 of this series is a match-up between two young pitchers who often let their emotions run wild. Weaver (94, C, B, SLD[5], CHG[3]) was dominant in his first start of the year, but was pulled due to late-inning troubles. He's only in his 3rd major league season, and he has a tendency to get over-amped towards the end of a ballgame. Hopefully it won't come to it, but we may be able to exploit him if we're down by a run or two in the 9th inning.

Game 2
Michael Davis (0-0, 11.1) vs. Joe Saunders (0-0, 3.68)

Michael Davis, who got shellacked in his debut against the Dolphins, will hope to regroup against Joe Saunders (93, D, B, SLD[1], CB[2], CHG[1]), whose stuff isn't great, but has a reputation for getting a lot of run support.

Game 3
Cesario Castillo (0-1, 7.20) vs. John Lackey (0-2, 6.57)

John Lackey (95, C, A, 2SFB[2], H-SLD[3], CB[4], CHG[3]) is a 29-year old veteran with an above average fastball, above average breaking balls, and above average control. One can only speculate as to exactly what went wrong in those first two starts, but it's only a matter of time before he settles into a groove.

I love your series previews! They are so organized!