Next time on BREAKING OOTP, the Seattle MARIOners from last time face off with the Backyard Baseball Kids in a 7-game series to determine who is the greatest video game baseball team ever.
Yes, you’ll hear about Princess Peach pitching to Pablo Sanchez. You will learn the result of Angela Delvecchio vs. Bowser. Pete Wheeler might challenge Petey Piranha’s arm!
Look out for it this coming weekend or so.
In BREAKING OOTP, I push Out Of The Park Baseball to it’s limits in various scenarios. Some will answer questions, some will settle scores, and some will push Out Of The Park Baseball to it’s very limits, to see if I can literally cause the game engine to beg for mercy.
This week, we are going with a simple idea: what if there was an Arena Baseball? The smallest possible field, with a fast astroturf, 42-foot-high walls to knock balls off of and easily lob high-reaching homers over. Something like this:
And, what’s more, I’m telling the computer to approach this as if this is the 2015 MLB season, so they’ll use the same tendencies that MLB teams would.
This could get weird. Go below the jump to see how weird it gets (and click any pictures to make them larger):
First, there were the T-Shirts. And one day, I will return to those. But today, we are going to look at fan-designed unofficial and unlicensed posters. What type of posters? Well, go below the jump to see:
If you look hard enough online (as in… google “T-Shirts”), you can find sites that sell unlicensed and unofficial t-shirts. These T-shirts feature designs created by fans and basically only are allowed to exist because they are fairly small-scale operations- the equivalent of those random guys outside of a stadium- and no company is willing to sue them to oblivion because of the bad PR that would result from going after people who in essence are their biggest fans would be… bad. In addition, a lot (but certainly nowhere near all) of the t-shirts don’t technically break any laws and don’t actually use anything trademarked or copyrighted.
So, what type of stuff are we talking about? (go below the jump to see the rest of this)
Well, that was awhile. My computer crashed while I was on vacation, leaving me unable to do all of the MVPs of Yesterday from the 13th to the 23rd. Needless to say, to go back day-by-day would be a time-consuming folly, but thankfully, Sully over at MLB reports does something somewhat similar to “MVP of Yesterday”, called “Who Owned Baseball”. He’s given me permission to use his picks* as research to help to me retroactively give MVPs of Yesterday, for which I am very grateful. So, pay him a solid if you are reading this and go check out MLB Reports. They’ve got some good stuff over there.
So, without further adieu, here are the MVPs from when I was gone:
8-13: Mitch Moreland
8-14: Matt Kemp (the first cycle in Padres history)
8-15: Jackie Bradley Jr.
8-16: Madison Bumgarner
8-17: Brian McCann
8-18: Curtis Granderson
8-19: Jesse Chavez
8-20: Chris Archer
8-21: Mike Fiers (No-Hitter… so duh)
8-22: Paul Goldschmidt
8-23: Clayton Kershaw (seriously, what were they thinking pulling him?)
Standings, as always, after the jump, and thanks again to Sully!
*(He picks multiple WOB winners, including half-winners for people who were good in losing efforts, while I just pick one every day and it’s full credit even if they were in a losing effort)
Two things at the Hall of Very Good: There’s my latest Wisdom and Links, which looks at the most average players in history (Randy Bush! Dave Clark! The immortal Hugh High!).
In addition, the Hall of Very Good itself has added three new members: Jim Kaat, Lee Smith, and fan/celebrity entree Randy “Macho Man” Savage (who had a promising Minor League career that was cut short by injury). In addition, later this week the Glenn Burke Memorial Courage Award will be awarded.
So, make sure you check out Hall of Very Good throughout the week. Shawn and the rest of the gang has some good stuff coming.
We know today that sometimes things go “viral” on the internet. Maybe they are funny videos. Maybe it’s a particularly interesting story or a shocking photo. However, memes and “viral” phenomena are not new things. They’ve always happened. And, to prove that, researchers at Northeastern have compiled a database of things that were going viral back in the 19th century, when newspapers and magazines were the main news sources. This nicely lines up with the time where baseball became a national sport, so I decided to take a look. While time and tide (and the fact that there was a whole Civil War and Reconstruction going on) means that it’s likely the database isn’t complete and doesn’t have nearly as much baseball as you might think, I definitely found some fascinating things.
You can see some of what I found below the jump:
Last year, to great controversy, Major League Baseball didn’t do a thing to honor the memory of the great Tony Gwynn at the All-Star Game, leading many (including myself) to suggest that maybe MLB should take the opportunity every All-Star Game to pay tribute to the past and those we’ve lost by having a “In Memoriam” segment at the All-Star Game. One guy (Sully) even made a video on his own, and it was pretty good.
Well, we haven’t heard anything about a possible official “In Memoriam” video happening in a few weeks in Cincinnati, so I can only assume it won’t be happening, or it’s being kept a closely-guarded surprise. But, I (somewhat morbidly) wondered: who’d be in this year’s “In Memoriam” video anyway?
Here’s a list (and a semi-random order) I came up with, a * means that they’d get an extra emphasis, such as a highlight or interview clip about them:
Alvin Dark, 1948 Rookie of the Year, 3-time All-Star, lengthy managing career *
Frank Torre, member of 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves
Lennie Merullo, 7 seasons of MLB experience, last surviving man to have played in the World Series for the Chicago Cubs
Gordie Gillespie, all-time leader in coaching wins in college baseball (longtime NAIA coach)
Noella Leduc, winning pitcher of the last AAGPBL All-Star Game
Jim Fanning, longtime member of Expos front office, manager of Montreal’s 1981 playoff team
Riccardo Ingram, Twins minor-league roving instructor
Rocky Bridges, 1958 All-Star
Sy Berger, longtime Topps baseball card designer
Ray Sadecki, pitcher in 1960s and 1970s
Lon Simmons, Ford Frick Award-winning broadcaster for Giants and A’s*
Fred Gladding, 1969 NL saves leader
Jean-Pierre Roy, commentator for Montreal Expos from 1968 to 1984
Victor Sanchez, 20-year-old Mariners prospect
John Keenan, longtime Dodgers scout
Jose Capellan, pitcher during the 2000s
Bill Valentine, longtime umpire
Bill Slayback, 1970s Tigers pitcher, singer of “Move Over Babe (Here Comes Henry)”
Wendell Kim, longtime coach
Minnie Minoso, 9-time All-Star, 3-time gold glover *
Carl Long, Negro Leaguer who later helped integrate the Carolina League
Dave Bergman, 17 years MLB experience, 1984 World Champion
Dick Bresciani, longtime Red Sox PR Man
Jerry Lumpe, 1964 All-Star
Ulpiano Cos Villa, Spanish-Language broadcaster for Angels and CBS in 1980s
Jeff Robinson, pitcher in late 80s and early 90s
Oscar Taveras, young Cardinals star *
George Spencer, top reliever for 1951 Giants
Bernardo Fernandez, longtime Negro Leaguer
Jerry Gross, early Padres broadcaster
Alison Gordon, first female member of the BBWAA
Hank Peters, longtime executive, GM of Orioles from 1976 to 1987
Brad Halsey, MLB pitcher 2004-2006
Ollie Brown, outfielder in 1960s and 70s
John Winkin, College Coach
Stuart Scott, ESPN legend, creator of the “Boo-Yah!” HR call
Alex Johnson, 1970 All-Star and AL Batting Champion
Jerry Dior, creator of the MLB Logo
Don Bryant, catcher of Don Wilson’s second no-hitter, Bullpen coach of the 1975 AL Champion Red Sox
Nelson Doubleday Jr., former owner of the Mets
Al Rosen, 4-time Star, 1953 MVP, 2-time AL HR champion, longtime executive *
Andres Mora, member of the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame, 3rd all-time in minor league HRs
Jose Martinez, former player and longtime coach and executive
Bill Monbouquette, 3 (or 4, depending on how you count the multiple ASG years)-time All-Star and thrower of a No-Hitter in 1962
James Stillwell, an original owner of the Seattle Mariners
George Shuba, member of the 1955 World Series Champion Dodgers, minor-league friend of Jackie Robinson
Joe Simenic, co-founder of SABR
Russ Kemmerer, MLB pitcher in 50s and early 60s
Nick Peters, sportswriter and winner of 2009 J.G. Taylor Gordon Spink Award from HOF
Stu Miller, 1961 All-Star, 1958 NL ERA champion, member of Orioles Hall of Fame
Darryl Hamilton, 13-years MLB experience, MLB Network analyst
Ernie Banks, Hall of Famer *
Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. A glossary of storyline characters can be looked at here. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.
Due to the lateness of this installment and how far behind I am on this, this time it’ll be a bit different: instead of a day-by-day coverage, it’s going week by week, encompassing Week 9 (May 25 to May 31), Week 10 (June 1 to June 7) and Week 11 (June 8 to June 14), with highlights from each.
So, let’s get going:
Week 9 (May 25 to May 31):
Monday was a simple ending of the previous week’s final series. But Tuesday brought whole new series, including prime matchups like Dominican vs. Japan and a Netherlands/Canada match-up that had major implications on the race for the final spots in the playoffs, even this early in the season.
The first game of the Japan/DR series certainly lived up to the hype, with Japan winning 5-3, with Albert Pujols striking out to end the game to end a last-ditch DR rally. The Netherlands-Canada game also was quite evenly matched, with the Canadians winning 2-1 thanks to a 2-run rally in the 8th. That would allow them to tie Mexico for the 8th and final spot. Sure, it was still a long way until the playoffs, but every game counts. Elsewhere, Team USA somehow lost to Team Rest-Of-World 3-2, and Venezuela creamed Italy, 18-4.
The next day- Wednesday the 27th, saw Japan again defeat the Dominican, 5-4 in 10 innings on a walk-off single by Shinnosuke Abe. Meanwhile, the Netherlands evened their series with Canada with a 8-2 win.
To end their series on Thursday, the Dominican salvaged a game with a 8-2 win, while Canada won their series with a 9-2 victory.
The final three days of the week saw a series between Team USA and Team Cuba. Team USA would take the first game in a 15-4 rout. That wasn’t even the biggest rout of the day, though, as Venezuela beat Colombia 15-3 behind a cycle from Miguel Cabrera:
The next day, Team USA would win again, 8-3, and then finished the sweep the next day with a 3-1 win.
And thus ended Week 9… and take a look at South Korea!:
The Power Rankings, which show how much the Korean team is on the rise with their winning streak:
The Player of the Week for Week 9 was Carlos Beltran:
And monthly awards for May were given out to Yasiel Puig and Max Scherzer:
Week 10 (June 1 to June 7):
Bad weather plagued much of the week, washing out three games in the Caribbean and South America on Monday alone, but in Nicaragua the weather was fine as South Korea won their 13th straight game. They’d win the next day two to make it 14, coming back late against Rest-Of-World to win 8-7 and then finishing off the sweep on Wednesday, 9-2, to make it 15 wins in a row.
However, once the Koreans returned to Korea, they ended up finally hitting that bad weather, and at the worst possible moment, as it cut short a game and made them fall to Cuba, 4-1 in 6 innings. The streak was over.
That wasn’t the biggest surprise that day. The biggest surprise that day was this:
Well, I guess it’s true: anything can happen.
The end of the winning streak, the shocking upset of the Dominican, and the rain delays were the main stories of the week- as was a shocking injury that put Nelson Cruz out of commission for the rest of the competition:
So, at the end of Week 10:
Power Rankings:
And MVP of Week 10, Matt Kemp:
Week 11 (June 8 to June 14):
Injuries- both of people leaving the DL and going to the DL- were the story early in the week. Clayton Kershaw returned from the DL for Team USA, but elsewhere Yovani Gallardo was knocked off the Mexican roster for the rest of the season with a torn back muscle, Taiwan lost two players to the DL, Albert Pujols had a quad injury and would be out a few weeks, and the Dutch found out that they’d again be without Andrelton Simmons for about five weeks.
But the games went on, and Kershaw made his presence known late in the week:
So, at the end of Week 11, the standings, where Team USA is rampaging:
The power rankings:
The week’s top player was Kennys Vargas:
And that concludes Part 10 of the International Baseball Competition. But next time: JOSE FERNANDEZ JOINS THE COMPETITION!
Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. A glossary of storyline characters can be looked at here. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.
May 18
Week 8 of the IBC began in Australia between the Dutch and the Australians. The Dutch would end up winning 9-6, not long before a Takayuki Kajitani 3-run home run in the 7th in Japan put the home team up 3-0 against Venezuela, a lead they wouldn’t give up. Not long after that, the Taiwanese finished off the Puerto Ricans, 5-4.
And then… everybody waited until night-time on the East Coast of the USA.
The first game of the night, at 6 PM, was South Korea vs. Dominican Republic. It was a nice pitching match-up:
(A reminder that injuries and such are, other than opening day injuries, entirely separate from actual reality, hence why Hyun-Jin Ryu is still playing despite being injured in the real world)
Bartolo Colon would prove to be the winner of the game, as the Dominican would be the first to get on the board, thanks to a Starling Marte double in the second. Robinson Cano and Adrian Beltre would add two more RBIs later in the game. Colon and the relievers (including Antonio Bastardo, who had to fill in after Joaquin got injured with two outs in the 9th) would hold the Koreans scoreless. Colon would strike out nine and give up six hits in the victory.
In Boston, Team USA once again demolished Italy, but “only” by the score of 13-1, as Trout, Stanton, Kemp and McCutchen all homered and Jon Lester went 8.2 IP allowing only 3 hits and striking out 15. However, the Ghost of the Bambino was not happy: “Only won by 12, Joe?”, he whispered in Joe Maddon’s ear. And, worse, Matt Kemp, who was hitting .373, hurt himself running the bases and would be out for 2 weeks.
In Havana, the biggest upset of the day took place, as Team Rest-Of-The-World defeated Cuba, 4-3, surviving a late 9th-inning rally. However, the Rest-Of-Worlders did not get out unscathed, as 1st baseman Rene Leveret, one of their few sort-of-kind-of-semi-power threats, was injured making a spectacular dive to record an out in the 9th, straining an oblique and being knocked out for three weeks.
Justin Morneau, Joey Votto and George Kottaras all homered as Canada beat Panama, 12-6.
Finally, Enrique Osorio went 5-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs as Mexico steamrolled Colombia, 15-5.
GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE:
The Baseball Continuum 