Power Pros Forum

I tried MLB Life Mode with a generic drafted player, but all my ratings were E, and stuck there. I also only had one position, which happened to be stacked on that team (the Reds) - plus, Oakley is on the same team, in the same position...making it even tougher. So, I decided to try it again, with a created player; Ryan Evert. Evert's chosen team is the Oakland Athletics, so hopefully a hole will open up for him in the outfield. He can play all 3 positions, which should make him useful - and he's a lefty for platoon/pinch-hitting purposes. And his ratings should outpace Oakley.

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Ryan Evert is a good all-around outfielder from Australia, attending college in Canberra. He has poor durability, but otherwise is solid - decent in the field, decent with the bat, and slightly plus speed. He has been scouted by the Athletics for some time, and after a strong showing in the WBC, he was invited to camp as a non-roster invitee.

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March 2008:
Spring training in Arizona went fast, and went well. The Oakland coaches are really looking at me as if I have a shot - they've been playing me pretty regularly. The have some established talent in right field, in Jack Cust; my real shot is displacing Emil Brown in left or Chris Denorfia in center. I've been thwacking the ball pretty good, hitting around .500 in the games I've been in, and swiping a base here or there. I have my fingers crossed that I'll make the team, but having substantial talent on their roster, I'll understand if AAA is where I land.

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April 2008:
I made the team! I am the utility outfielder - excellent. I really blew my last spring training game, going 0 for 4 i think - but the A's staff was still high on my earlier run, so it looks like I am here to stay! $390k guaranteed contract...that will make my family happy back home!

My first game I came off the bench in the 8th..and hit a homerun! Pinch-hit homer, hah. I'm not even really a power guy - just got lucky I guess! Nice intro to the bigs!

I'm just happy to be playing in Oakland, only a short flight away from home back in Aussie.
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Mid-April 2008:

After two weeks of late-inning pinch hitting, and maybe a rare start, I think I've finally battled into a starter role. I'm hitting about .500(!) with two homers now, and the manager has me starting in right field. This puts Cust and Thomas sharing DH duties...but it leaves Brown and Denorfia both in the outfield, even though both of them are struggling. Not sure why the manager is doing this - right field is my primary position, but I can play center or left fine. Odd decision making.

Starting has gone well - I already have a 7-game hitting streak running from my pinch-hitting and occasional starts. I'm getting the base running thing down here in the majors, trying to figure out if I have a chance again Seattle and Anaheim's catchers' arms. Trying to anticipate the curve or change in the count to run on for that extra nano-seconds of flight time. This is fun.

The team is in first place, and we've been on a blistering pace. The MLB life is a good time!

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May 1st, 2008:

Wow...things went so unbelievably well. I have 4 homers, 14 RBI, and am still batting over .500. I get a steal every other game or so. Best of all, the hitting streak - it's at 22 games. This is incredible - I never thought I'd have so much success out of the gate.

I bought myself a nice Hybrid car for $45k to celebrate my success so far. I've been meeting up with my Agent, Matthew, a lot - he's been open to communicating with all the success I've experienced. I see my fans going up, to 10k, 15k.

I was selected the Rookie of the Month for the AL in April. My first real honor...pretty exciting. However, the team isn't doing so hot - Cust and Thomas, even Denorfia have batting averages at or under .200. Crosby is striking out a lot, and Chavez hasn't had goot at bats either. The whole team chemistry is slipping, and it's showing; we've taken a real tumble lately, down to 3rd place in the AL West. The last 4 or 5 games, our starters have been hit hard, for 7 or 8 runs. It's hard to climb back out of a hole like that.

I bought a video game system, some darts, and a fishing pole to keep myself occupied. I promised to give something to charity - I think per RBI maybe. I'll also be using a pink bat for Mother's day.

One fear that's been weighing on me, is that a lot of Oakland players tend to be traded after establishing themselves here. I'm scared of being shipped somewhere far from home, like the east coast or Toronto or something. I want to play to my full potential, but...I hope I can stay here in Oakland for some time. Or have some say where I am shipped.

Sounds awesome! Good luck!

Sounds good. I'll follow.

Me too.

Mid-May 2008:

The manager mentioned that other teams would be scouting me more (I swear, this is the second time he told me this). I figured I would adjust my approach accordingly - start slapping some hits to the opposite field or whatever I can. I'm pretty strong all around the zone, and have been known to golf a homer now and then.

So my first game after this scary conversation, we got to Texas and I face Sidney Ponson...and hit a homer to dead center. It just hung up there - I thought for sure it was a sac fly. It cleared the fence - I now have 4 homers already - and I'm not a power guy! No 'roids to be gotten in the outback, man! Either the Rangers can't scout well, or I am defying the scouting altogether.

I was selected as player of the week for the first week of May, for hitting .500 with 2 homers. Another great honor, and my fan base is increasing accordingly. The manager is thrilled with my performance, and I seem to have won the starting RF job. I just wish we could get Cust's bat back in there - maybe I will talk to the coach about moving to left or center. I really think that would help us out.

June 1st, 2008

I tried to talk to the coach about using me in one of the other positions - Left or Center. Emil Brown and Chris Denorfia are still struggling, hitting around .220 each. However, all the coach would consider is changing my lineup order (which the manager has been changing constantly, anyway). I don't care where they bat me, so I just told him to nevermind. This is so annoying! How can I get through to these guys? Maybe I'll chat with the Manager himself.

My stats:
My hitting is still strong - my average was .454 through May, but I still only have the 4 homers. 22 RBIs is my current total - not many A's players get on base in front of me, and they are really pitching around me when anyone is on. I just got my 30th steal - I've started getting caught a few times, especially by the Ranger's catchers; some bonehead running issues, but overall I'm getting on, choosing a time to get over, and running home when I can.

the Team:
We are still in 3rd place, around .500. We picked up Chuck James to take some pitching. Our pitchers are usually tired and in bad form...lots of our games are of the 8-6 variety, with some 1-1 games in there. Frank Thomas is still hitting ~.240, with 4 homers. Cust is still on the bench (!!). This just screams poor management.

The manager has been batting me cleanup for the last 2 weeks. This is bad for me - pitches to hit are becoming more scarce, and literally nothing to drive. I've had to adjust to slapping hits around to stay on base, and I'm jumping on that first pitch a lot. Mainly singles, some doubles now and then. No homers, and no RBIs - I'm not a cleanup guy. We need Cust in there.
Current lineup:
1) Emil Brown
2) Mark Ellis
3) Eric Chavez
4) Ryan Evert (that's me)
5) Frank Thomas
6) Bobby Crosby (Are you serious?!?)
7) Chris Denorfia
Redman/Suzuki
9) Whoever is on 1b?

Injuries:
I was injured for a 4-5 game stretch, so I met the doctor. Odd personality. Seems somewhat detached from reality. I actually went to see her a second time to see if there was anything I could do - she was all to happy to see me again. Soon I recovered and was back in the lineup.

I was injured agani, a second 5-game stretch. Man, low durability is a pain. This time I recovered even faster, thanks to some compresses I bought.

Agent:
I kept playing chess against Matthew (he always beats me). It seems our friendship level maxes out at 3/5ths of what it could be. Odd.

Hobbies:
I've been doing a little bit of everything. I drive now and then - even took Oakley for a drive in my nice Hybrid. I play chess online, play some darts, and do video games now and then. I practice a little, and rest a lot, hopefully to avoid more injuries.

Sponsor
So Duchscherer caught me after a game, and asked if I had a sponsor. I said no - he hooked me up with Mizotto, who gave me some free bats on the spot. They also offered gloves, spikes, whatever I need. Nice! Two months into my first season, and I'm sponsored? Wow.

Awards/recognition:
I was rookie of the month again for May in the AL. This is mainly for average and steals. I gains significant fans for that.
I also got player of the week for week 9, last week of May. Woohoo!

Finally, All-Star voting results started to show - and I'm 6th in the all-star balloting! Wow, people are really taking notice - this is incredible for a rookie like me (let alone from a small market like Oakland)! There's been some talk of my high average - beginner's luck, hot streak, etc. Others say I've got a swing that rivals another lefty, Ted Williams. Whatever they want to say - I've been lucky. I just want to get on, run the bases, and play ball!

The Manager stopped by again to tell me that other teams should be scouting me even harder. I am seeing less pitches to hit, but my batting average has only fallen from .500 to .450, so I'm not too worried.

June 1st, 2008

I got rookie of the month for May as well. Still hitting around .440 mark. I had a long drought without a homer - was stuck at 4 for quite a while. But, an interleague game versus Micah Owings and the diamondback cured that - I hit two solo shots in the same game! I have my power swing back.

Later on I hit for the cycle in a game. It was a sloppy running play to get to 3rd - the lead runner was tagged out at home, so I'm not sure it should count. Exciting, though.

AL All-Star voting is tight, and I am still looking like a 5th outfielder selection. I can't believe it. I have > 30 RBIs, 8 homers, and coming up on 40 steals, in early June! Frank Thomas has been heating up behind me, driving me in with some regularity.

I tried to talk to the manager about moving me to LF, and putting in Cust or Buck now and then - but all he would do is give me advice. He still yells at me about choking, when I fail to drive in a run or something...kind of silly, considering my high average and all that. It doesn't really make sense.

Our team is in 3rd in the NL west, under .500 for May. Most of it is our pitching - but teams everywhere are using all kinds of pitchers as starters, and most starters are only going a few innings. This all seems kind of surreal.

Out of character:
Due to my ginormous batting average, and how easy it is to keep on hitting .500, I switched my batting difficulty from Lock-On 2 to Best Try. With Best Try my power stroke was sick, so now I am on Normal. This is good - I've gone O-fer a game or two, so my batting average should drop down to somewhere reasonable. It's no fun if I just own the game constantly.

Pet Peeves about My Life mode:
1) no possible impact on where you are played - I play 3 positions, but am stuck at my primary.
2) non-game activities are so repetitive - fish, work out, chess, drive, read, go out to eat....none of it matters. You can do everything, or nothing; friends don't matter, players have no personalities, its just faces on the screen.
3) The interviews with Mia - no chance to say anything? To be the ego-maniac, or the quiet shy type.
4) Manager feedback - every game? "You blew it!" when I am an all-star? Cmon.
5) The annoying scene of you jumping, and your skills increase; why show it all the time? when I travel, rest, etc? Waste of time.

You're right about my life. I hope they fix that in 09.

So I was an all-star. I wasn't a starter, just a reserve. I had one at-bat, popped out, wasn't a factor as the NL won.

Games have been good, lots of weird trades going on. The Cubs and Red Sox swapped Beckett for Alfonso Soriano, then later the Sox sent another OF to the Cubs for a starting pitcher. Lots of big deals heading into the trade deadline.

I hit my 6th homer, a hugely deep 3-run game-winning shot. I have quite a few walk-off hits too - the announcer is always mentioning them.

I've been injured twice more though - mainly small stints for 4 or 5 days tops. It's not bad - it's important to get Jack Cust in the lineup, the poor guy isn't getting a shot anywhere, even though I could play center or left, and he'd be a good DH sometimes. Frank Thomas is great, but he does swing and miss a lot - usually with me on 2nd or 3rd. The injuries are annoying - I just feel like I'm not part of the team. I'm not technically DL'd, but I barely even see the results - no idea who did what. Weird.

The new difficulty settings for batting work well, my average is dipping under .400 to about .390 or so. Working a walk is still very, very hard.

I just collected my 50th stolen base, although I did get caught in a few rundowns in July. I noticed rundowns don't count as Caught Stealing, which is odd.

After the All-Star game appearance, I was visited by a new agent, Jakob. He called himself a genius and said he would be great, and to call him...I'm still relatively new, and Matthew and I play chess a lot, so I will say no to Jakob for now. Besides, anyone that thinks themselves a genius probably isn't the guy for this low-key Aussie to hook up with.

I went out with Joe Blanton and hung out, other than that lots of practicing, some chess with Matthew, and the odd book or video game now and then. I have about $130k saved up, but my practice equipment breaks after about 6-10 uses, every time. Very expensive.

At least the coaches have settled on putting me batting cleanup, which is really an honor. Of course, things decline to my sub-.400 average, but at least I'm still cranking out the hits. I love hitting 0-2, or 3-2, when the pressure is on - the pitcher usually cracks and shoots one down the middle. That happened recently, and I shot it DEEP down the right field line. The camera got right behind me as I watched it go!

The Athletics are about out of the pennant race, with so many guys on the team hitting in the low .200s - Crosby, Denorfia especially. Eric Chavez or Emil Brown get on a decent amount in front of me, but our pitching and the rest of the lineup is problematic. I'll use the rest of this season to pad my stats, and hopefully get some kind of raise from the ownership. I know I'm still a rookie, but hey, a guy can dream, right?

This is pretty cool.

august goes by, and wow does my average drop. From .388 to about .350, as I slump like I never have before.

The manager continually demeans me, yelling at me for blowing chances at the plate. But my agent is at 4 full stars, and Oakley introduced me to a waitress named Emily. I also stopped some thief from running away with her stuff.

You know what's killing me - every time I step to the plate, the announcer talks about my 3 walk off hits this season. I mean, is that so important? I've stolen like 60 bases, have 13 homers and 57 RBIs, and was leading the league in average my rookie season...and you talk about walk-off hits??? weird.

The season ended, and I was tied for the top average in the AL - .357 - with Jorge Posada.

I also captured Rookie of the Year honors. Wow - I really can't express how lucky I feel.

My ratings are skyrocketing - speed up to B, everything else a decent C level. I watched the Mets win the world series over the Yankees, mainly on Pedro's dominance. Man, to get to the playoffs - I wonder if Oakland could make it.

At the awards ceremony, I met a new agent named Darryl - didn't talk, just typed away on his blackberry and handed me a card. Rumors say he's a fantastic agent - Oakley said I must be a type B to get Darryl interested.

I have to renegotiate with the team - incredible, since I just barely have a year of service time. Maybe I'm super-2 status...but even then, one year of service time, I should basically have no say in my contract. Odd.

Anyway, at this point I have 4 stars with Matthew, and none with Darryl or Jakob...so I stay with Matthew. He meets me in the Oakland front office for contract renewal, and comes back from his closed-door meeting. Instead of the $400k I was making, he has a new figure around $850k.

Wow! I shouldn't even be making over the minimum - doubling the minimum is fine by me! I thought I'd have to toil another two years to get that in Arbitration.

So now its up to me to show I am worth it to the Athletics next season. For now, I'm heading back to Canberra for the off-season - I sure hope everyone got to see the highlights back home. I also hope the front office decides to better utilize some of my teammates, instead of Buck and Cust being on the bench all season. And Oakley, too! Why have 7 outfielders, and only play me and the ones hitting .200? Jeesh.

This is a really good log Alloutwar. Makes me green with envy .

Thanks for the comments everyone - I'm surprised anyone's reading, given that MLBPP08 is so old now - but glad you are. Especially since I went 6 months without playing this game (was playing Baseball Mogul the whole time).

LightningMan - thanks, glad to see another sox fan. In North Carolina as well - awesome, great state you have here. As for facebook - stay off of it! For your own good, lol. All I ever see on there are ex girlfriends and family/classmates I totally don't want to remember. But don't be green with envy - just write another one. I'd like to see more active logs on here - all I see are a few season mode logs, and some can get crazy with trades and all.

I'm going to try to change my primary position to CF or LF to improve this athletics team over the offseason...if anyone has done that in My Life mode and can give me some tips, i'd appreciate it.

My fav mode is My Life so your situation with the manager is frustrating I know. I haven't tried switch main positions before and I don't think you can. I belive that is only in season. However, if you can switch main positions, I would switch over to left cause I like Denorfia more than Crosby but it is up to you.