tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87702804354930705162024-03-08T01:19:23.056-08:00HBD HornsbyMr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-10473556010020427772014-01-12T00:27:00.001-08:002014-01-12T00:27:53.694-08:00Porthos's Season 30 Tacoma Windmills Team UpdateFor Immediate Release....Dateline Tacoma<br />
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Windmills putting pieces together<br />
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Porthos, who acquired a team last season that had won only 24 games in Season 28, is overseeing a rebuild built around trading and the draft. That strategy helped boost the franchise to improve Wins to 45 in Season 29. With SP and "Face of the Franchise" Eddie Conroy another season older and showing some key increases, hitting the leagues new MWR should not be a problem.<br />
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With upcoming draft picks 2,3, 32 and 57 in the draft, Porthos opted to invest heavily in scouting in hopes of filling some obvious holes in the farm system. One big gap filled this spring was a Power hitting First Baseman, which the signing of Alex Morales at $40 M demonstrated the commitment of the franchise to build from the ground up<br />
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Time will tell whether this is a smart strategy, but does insure the league will continue see stability in the Tacoma franchise ownership.Mr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-38847183522947208732014-01-11T09:35:00.001-08:002014-01-11T09:35:43.413-08:00Oriolmagic's Season 30 Nashville Southern Belles Team Preview<p dir="ltr">Season 30 looks promising in Nashville, as the aging Southern Belles try to continue to retool for another run. This is no longer the team that won 6 out of 7 AL pennants, however they are built to win now. Nashville is looking to win its first division title since season 22, and could really use the first round bye. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The Belles should be led by a strong starting rotation, returning all 5 starting pitchers, anchored by future Hall of Famer Wendel Ducey. Ducey, who is 3rd all time with 312 wins looks to continue his brilliant career and hang on long enough to catch Walker Mays record of 411 wins. While a stretch he will reach the mark the Belles continue to try to put strong pieces around him.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The bullpen is anchored by Vin Ramirez. The aging Ramirez has been a stallworth of the bullpen since joining Nashville in season 18, pitching at least 150 innings all but two seasons. Joining Ramirez in the bullpen is free agent Cookie Ozuna who looks to earn his free agent money by locking down the middle innings in long relief.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Nashvilles offense is led by superstar 3b Adam Coles, who has hammered 91 homers in two seasons with the Belles. LF Bernie Bunch joins Coles and return 1b Tanner Conner giving nashville 3 players who hit 40 homers last year in the middle of the lineup.</p>
<p dir="ltr">While Nashville boost a strong rotation and power lineup, there defense should be much improved this year. Free Agent shortstop Willy Lennon will join incumbant Christian Carnery to provide some much needed rotation and depth with two players capable of playing any spot on the field. Returning CF Rigo Melian won a Gold Glove in his first season in CF with the Belles and will look to build on that success. 2b Todd Duffy, brought over from Cleveland in a trade, provides the possibility of having a Gold Glove player at 2b, SS, CF and 3B, giving Nashville strong defense at the most important positions. Winning the starting catcher spot, incumbent 2nd round pick Timmothy Speaker threw out 34% of runners last year while showcasing a career .838 ops.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The core of Nashvilles team is getting old, and years of big money free agents have done their work on a once very deep minor league system. The biggest risk area this year is injury and/or decline leaving Nashville with not many replacement options in the minors. Nashville continues to do a good job of finding and growing bench players in the draft, however they have not groomed an impact ML player in a long time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">top newcomers: Willy Lennon, Bernie Bunch, Todd Duffy, Cookie Ozuna<br>
key departchers: Roland Pierce, Ben Broxton, Hee Chong<br>
best prospects: Aroldis James, Francisco Perez, Everth Romero, Dick Howard </p>
Mr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-89598158247500760782014-01-10T16:47:00.002-08:002014-01-10T16:47:43.266-08:00Blue Mug's Season 30 Minn. Moose Team PreviewThe Moose will be hard pressed to get out of the basement in the NL North this season, as they have trimmed payroll, and have added only rookies from the AAA WS winning club. Hopefully the extra money will be put towards some key players for the future. <br />
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Offense: 22 year old CF Anthony Acosta and a bunch of guys. Hopefully 2B Santiago Elcano will bounce back after his worst offensive season to date. ROY candidate from season 29 Dante Franco should add to his totals this season, Other then that it's a pretty pedestrian bunch.<br />
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Pitching: The Moose are going with youth in their rotation as the oldest is 25 years, and he's a rookie. Former 1st round pick Phil Simon will get some much needed experience this season after an 18 win season at AAA in only his 2nd pro year. Jimmy Jefferson , a Rule V draft pick last season will head a rotation that is searching for a stopper. Good luck! The bullpen needs Luis Castro to perform up to his ratings if he hopes to continue pitching in Minnesota. Wilin Alberro was a nice surprise at closer and had a hand in over half the Moose wins. This is a relative strength for Minnesota.<br />
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The overall outlook is not good at the moment, but with 5 NL pennants and 4 WS in the minors help should be on the way.Mr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-44084695621350881552014-01-10T14:34:00.001-08:002014-01-10T14:34:52.256-08:00Scootermcray's Season 30 Indianapolis Wolverines Team Preview<p dir="ltr"><br>
Gone are the days of dominating Wolverines teams in all aspects.<br>
After an HBD decade plus long run we finally decided it was time to tear this team down and start our first Hornsby rebuild.<br>
Surprisingly, got little to no interest in trades last year so we had to settle for a couple decent prospects, but no real Franchise-type players.<br>
We will once again see if the remaining veterans can be moved this year for some prospects, but either way we should still be in the playoff chase another year or two while slowly building the next juggernaut.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Top Additions - Went ahead and signed Tony Gonzales (RP) and Julian James (2B) at what we thought were value signings. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Top Losses - Decided not re-sign future HOF Bob Duchscherer as he approaches some career milestones and wish him the best.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Top Prospects - I don't know you tell me. Kinda scarce.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In summary, we have no real thoughts of a title in Indy this year and it may be awhile before we are a serious contender, but we are fully committed to Hornsby World and the city of Indianapolis. We look forward to sitting at the Big Boy table in the near future. Hopefully Tanaka has retired by then.</p>
Mr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-14654544767418625282014-01-10T10:48:00.000-08:002014-01-10T10:48:22.456-08:00Sportsguy's Season 30 Cleveland Steamers Team Preview<dd style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #454545; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 10px 110px; padding: 0px 10px;"></dd><dd style="clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 110px; padding: 0px 10px;"></dd><dd style="clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 110px; padding: 0px 10px;"><br /></dd>
<dt style="float: left; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; text-align: right; width: 100px;">After 7 straight first place finishes in the AL East , this is going to be a very interesting season for the steamer franchise. After having all 4 of their top starting pitchers enter free agency and losing Ace pitcher Olmedo Peguero to the Warriors it is going to be very tough to replace all those wins. With the rest of the division closing in the GM will have some very tough decisions to make as the season progresses.</dt>
<dd style="clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 110px; padding: 0px 10px;"><br />With a core of stars all in there 30's and a very weak minor league system after some big trades last season to make one last push at a world series title, this could be the year to start another core makeover.<br /><br /><br />KEY ADDITIONS: None<br />KEY DEPARTURES: P Olmedo Peguero</dd>Mr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-27415984341434165782014-01-09T20:50:00.005-08:002014-01-09T20:50:55.515-08:00Seattleace's Season 30 Seattle Samurai Team PreviewOn the heels of a surprisingly swift exit from the playoffs in 29, the Samurai will be back with the same core group that led them to 115 Wins and 3 World Series titles in the prior 4 seasons.<br />
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Anchored by strong pitching, former CY Award Winners Abdullah Crawford and Danys Leon bolster the rotation, followed by 20-game winner Tanyon Riley .<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> The bullpen combination of setup man extraordinaire Willie Colome and Closer Donald Yoon offer the starters comfort that their leads will be protected.<br />
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Offensively, the team is paced by SS Torey Alvarez ,<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 3B Jonathan Morel and last season's AL MVP, LF Albert Espinoza . Fading Seattle legend Tommy Radinsky will be relegated to a pinch hit role, making room for youngster Keith Grant at 1B.<br />
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Defensively, Seattle fits middle of the back, with the exception of 99 Range CF Bernie Sanford , patrolling the not-so friendly depths of SafeCo field. With the lion's share of Seattle's core group aged 28-33, the horizon is staring down the Samurai and the sun will begin to shine on youngsters Stuffy D'Arnaud , Junior Rosario and Edgar Gonzales .<br />
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KEY ADDITIONS: None<br />
KEY DEPARTURES: P Javier DiazMr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-82348794856673631152014-01-09T20:46:00.001-08:002014-01-09T20:51:25.980-08:00Brentcnb's Season 30 Pawtuckett Team Preview<br />
Season 30 should be an interesting one for the Toymakers. While management has tinkered with the pitching and position players at the margins, this is essentially the same team that has for the past 2 seasons finished around the .500 mark.<br />
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Hitting should be the strength of the team, but there not be enough improvement to challenge a very tough Cleveland, improving Cincinnati and a Columbus team that is on the rise. The Toymakers look for an exciting a competitive AL East Division race.Mr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770280435493070516.post-65268870768141034112013-12-21T12:50:00.000-08:002013-12-21T12:51:01.046-08:00HORNSBY LEAGUE GUIDELINES<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #eeeecc; background-image: url(http://www2.blogblog.com/rounders3/icon_arrow.gif); background-position: 10px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); border-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 1px 1px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 14px 2px 29px;">
<b style="line-height: 18.90625px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">HBD PRIVATE LEAGUE GUIDELINES – HORNSBY. </span></span></b></h3>
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<b style="line-height: 18.90625px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">SEASON 30 ONWARD (SEASONS 1-29 WERE PUBLIC).</span></i></span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1. MAJORS - NO TANKING - </span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Re-building is fine; however, owner's need to field the most competitive ML team possible given their roster. Owners believed to be tanking will receive a trade chat and/or sitemail from the commissioner and steps will need to be taken to improve the owner's ML team or said owner will be removed from the world. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">EVERY new owner is asked to make a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">3 year commitment</span>;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">5 Season M</span></span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">inimum Wins: 54/114/180/245/308</span> (which is very reasonable – if you keep your wins North of 60, you'll have no troubles with this); and,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">An owner may be given a 1 year "grace period" by the commish <b>OR</b> the vote of 10 owners (any owner can initiate the vote, but a brief check-in with the commish is appreciated).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>There is no salary cap in Hornsby; however <u>new owners</u> should stick to a budget somewhere between approx. $40M and $100M -- rule of thumb only, no strict enforcement. Also, there is a "Guide for HBD Newbies" you can Google search for that may be of assistance.</i></span></b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. MINORS –</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Owners should pay at least some attention to the minors. Having them automanaged is okay, but there must be enough pitchers on the roster to not run into extreme fatigue issues. While no exact number of players is a requirement, a good rule of thumb is to start the season with 29 players and 15 pitchers/level will automatically meet this guideline.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.90625px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3. CASH IN TRADES </span></b><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.90625px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.90625px;"> The amount of cash in a trade CAN exceed the players' remaining salary plus up to the HBD maximum allowable $5M. This is to be voted on using the League's existing VETO TRADE system. Cash for players is allowed in Major League Baseball; however, don't be surprised if such a trade is vetoed in Hornsby as opinions among existing owners vary wildly on this subject.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4. BALLPARKS </span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> City changes for a returning owner are permitted, but discouraged, for consistency's sake. City changes HAVE been approved, so this is not a sticking point in Hornsby. If a new owner takes over a franchise, then they can choose any city they'd like – all parks are up for grabs, no ballpark restrictions in this world.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">5. REMOVALS -</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> The commissioner has final say on removals. If something is not covered here, but warrants removal, the final say is up to the commissioner. No owner will be removed without being warned unless the owner blatantly goes about trashing his team in violation of fair play. In these cases, the fair play guidelines serve as the unwanted owner's warning.</span></div>
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Mr_Stickballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872485326676987383noreply@blogger.com0