Power Pros Forum

All the settings AOW lists for the expansion challenge, Panpaka Park, etc, etc.
Not sure if I want to add a story element. Possibly.

I really like the idea of focusing on a player per update, so I'll do that. Couple of gems.

So here's the first guy I want to talk about, SP Sekiguchi.




So, he's a beast. Top of the rotation. Glad I stumbled on him.

The other guy to mention right away is 1st baseman Basner, who is basically Terry. He's got B power and E/F/G everything else.

Sekiguchi looks like he'll be a beast, especially if you teach him another breaking ball next spring -- maybe a curveball of some sort?

I'd go with a knuckler maybe, but it is always good to have two pitches that break in the same direction.

Anyway I like all these expansion challenges so I'm following.

Spring Training hadn't been easy. It's hard to compete against players of the same mold—AAAA players, guys who couldn't hack in in the Bigs but also couldn't fit in at the highest level of minor league ball. Yet February and March were intense—you couldn't claim your spot permanently, you had to work for it. Team chemistry had also been an issue, with no one taking it easy. At first, they'd snickered; at the names of many (Deardorff, Person, Junge) and the batting stance of Venafro—who did the guy think he was, Eddie Gaedel—and the submarine motion of Dunwoody and Basset. But as the start of the year got closer, they started to bond. They were, after all, players of the same mold.

Opening Day is a different matter. Sitting in that locker room, focusing—that builds solidarity and camaraderie, no matter how you look at it. The older guys, like Barden and Dunwoody, were glad to taste Opening Day in the majors finally. The young guys, like Venafro and Voyles, had no trouble suppressing their excitement—they hadn't been wanted by any of the 30 teams—only the addition of two new teams had let them into the league. That's what had let everyone on the team in. Sekiguchi, the Opening Day starter, barely spoke English. And here he was, going up against Kevin Millwood and the formidable Texas Rangers in Arlington. That's nerve-wracking for any rookie; perhaps Sekiguchi had it easier because he didn't know the name of a single batter he was to face.


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Rangers 7, Knights 3
W: K. Millwood (1-0) L: R. Bannister (0-1)

A 5-run 5th inning gave the Rangers all the runs and more they needed to win, as Texas amassed 15 hits en route to the comfortable victory. Kevin Millwood struck out 2 over 7 2/3 strong innings, while rookie counterpart Hisagi Sekiguchi allowed 8 hits and 2 runs over his 6 1/3 innings of work. Ben Broussard went 4-4 on the day with a home run, but it was Michael Young who led the Rangers with 2 hits and a team-high 3 RBIs. Jackie Fruto led New Orleans with 2 RBIs on 4 hits in 5 at bats out of the leadoff position, while Ben Basner doubled home the third run to give the Knights a brief and untenable lead. The teams traded runs in the 3rd and New Orleans took their lone lead of the game in the 5th. The Rangers scored 5 runs with two out in the 5th before the Knights answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame.



(I figure I'll do my updates like this, story/writing up top and short game recap below.)

Wow, impressed with the updates. They're simple, clean, but have color and look good. The only think I would suggest adding is the teams' overall records. That's always nice to see.

Thanks!

It was the first game of the year, so I felt I didn't need to, but I'll definitely do that in future updates.

(1-1) Knights 6, (1-1) Rangers 4
W: K. Moriarty (1-0) L: V. Padilla (0-1) S: A. Elder (1)

Ben Basner hit a big 2-run double to put the Knights ahead for good, and Paul Smitherma threw 6 strong innings to topple the Rangers for the first ever MLB win in New Orleans. Smitherma allowed 8 hits and two runs but struck out a game-high 5 batters; relievers Moriarty and Elder pitched the remaining three to hold on for the win. Rangers' starter Vicente Padilla allowed 10 hits and 5 runs over his 6 1/3 innings, striking out 1 in the losing effort. Ian Kinsler hit a late homer for the Rangers, but it was all for nought as Devin Person's 8th inning triple followed by Frank Lundberg's RBI single tacked on an insurance run for the win. The Knights scored the first run in the 3rd and the Rangers came back with 2 of their own in the 5th, but the Knights scored a total of 5 runs over the course of the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings (Basner's double came in the 7th), and the Rangers' 2-run 8th inning was wasted as Aaron Elder came in for a four-out save.



(No need for an update everytime, eh.)

(2-1) Mariners 12, (1-2) Knights 7
W: M. Batista (1-0) L: Martel (0-1)
HR: SEA, Ibanez 1 (1); NKN, Barzilla 1 (1)

In a game that can arguably be called New Orleans' first confrontation of the season, the Seattle Mariners knocked them around, scoring 12 runs on 23 hits. The Knights hit right back, notching 7 runs on 17 hits, but New Orleans strarting pitcher Willie Martel was tossed from the game for arguing balls and strikes after just 3 2/3 innings of work. He allowed 7 runs, only 4 of which were earned, but suffered through tick-tacky calls on nearly every batter—the final one which led to the dispute that got hit ejected. Mariners starter Miguel Batista threw 8 innings, allowing 5 runs on 12 hits in the winning effort. Every Mariner got a hit, with Adrian Beltre falling a homer short of the cycle. Leo Barzilla hit a three-run home run, New Orleans' first pro home run. Kyle Fruto continued his hot start to the year with 4 hits in 5 at bats.

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It's hard to take a loss well, more so a loss that just stuck in your craw, as the manager might have put it. Having your pitcher tossed from the game didn't help. Having made 2 crucial errors that could have kept the game in the balance didn't help either. It was a bad day at the office, as the manager might have put it. Leo Barzilla, having been congratulated on his homer, wanted to know whether he would be able to keep the home run ball, or whether the team would keep it for their Team Hall of Fame. He asked the manager whether he could go inquire of the GM, but the manager, lost in thought, failed to reply; Barzilla sat down. Chris Venafro had his head down, thinking about his first-inning error that cost 3 extra runs that could have been avoided. Paul Junge was thinking similar thoughts, only his error had cost the team a single run instead of three. Harry Chao kept going back to that gopher ball he'd served up to Raul Ibanez for the latter's crushing home run. It was, as the manager might have put it, a team loss.

I've had so many games like that. A fast grounder and I dive the wrong way…a hit and run and my infielder throws to second no matter what button I press…or a grounder that I swear I am within an inch of, but the game doesn't pick it up and it rolls right past my IF or OFer. When I am fighting so hard to keep it tied or close, and the game makes me throw a cheese ball right down the middle that gets smacked 600 feet.

These are the times that I hate the game…but my gosh, it's so much better than winning every game 20-5, right??

Absolutely. This was an incredibly realistic game in that all the calls I hated were the ones that any pitcher would hate. I thought I caught the edge of the plate, the ump disagreed, then on the next pitch the batter would hit a high chopper and get an infield single. That's baseball!

(3-1) Mariners 13, (1-3) Knights 2
W: M. Silva L: Tankersle
HR: SEA, Betancourt 1 (1)

It wasn't a pretty game for the Knights as they allowed 6 runs in the 5th and another 4 runs in the 7th, squandering what had been a good, close game up until that point. Barzilla led New Orleans with an RBI double, but that pales in comparison to the Mariners' stats. Raul Ibanez went 6-6, including a double, triple, and 4 RBI, and Ichiro went 4-6 with two doubles, a triple and two RBI. Seattle starting pitcher Miguel Silva pitched a complete game, only allowing 6 hits and 2 runs while walking 0. New Orleans center fielder Tyler Barden was injured when he collided with the wall in an attempt to rob a Richie Sexson triple, and left the game (1 hit in 2 at bats), but the team announced that he's expected to make a full return for the Knights' next game.

League storyline to watch: The Colorado Rockies are the only MLB team sitting at a perfect 4-0; a large part of that is thanks to Matt Holiday's MLB-leading 14 RBIs.

What kind of rosters are you using? Game default, or have you edited guys from 2008 at all? Have you added any additional guys via edit, or from our success mode projects?

I'm using the default 08 rosters. Love me some classics. Plus, I'm playing on my emulator just for this franchise, which has fake players anyways—I'll put in the awesome work you guys do when I get back to my Wii.