Power Pros Forum

September 30th:

Toronto Blue Jays (75-86) at Nashville Venom (67-94)

The Venom had a pretty bad month of September even by their standards (including a 9 game losing streak), putting their record to well over 90 losses and finishing in the bottom of the AL East standings for the second year in a row. They looked to salvage a little pride by finishing a series sweep of the Blue Jays in the final game of the season. They would be successful in doing that after this surprisingly high scoring game against the Blue Jays. Roma and Grindell were huge contributors with a home run each.

Blue Jays: 6
Venom: 9

Win: McNichol (6-11)
Save: Benoit (28)
Loss: Marcum (10-6)
HR: Grindell (11), Roma (8), V.Wells (21)

Venom Box Score:

Stewart: 2-4, 2 RBI, R
Grindell: 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
Butron: 0-4, R
Roma: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
Trammell: 0-3, K, BB
Stults: 0-4
Reynolds: 2-4, R
Rivas: 0-3, R
Ormond: 2-3, 2B, 2 R

Weibl: 3.1 innings pitched, 10 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned runs, 0 strikeouts
McNichol: 2.2 innings pitched, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 strikeouts, win
Asencio: 1 inning pitched, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 strikeout, hold
Meredith: 1 inning pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 strikeouts, hold
Benoit: 1 inning pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 strikeouts, save (3 pitches)

---

The only time in the past two games I've gotten a strikeout is when my pitcher threw a mistake pitch 65 MPH down the middle...

Deardorff contact improved from E to D.

Also, as that was the last game of the month, monthly MVPs were announced. So I should note Grindell won Rookie of the Month with a .212 average, 5 home runs and 17 RBIs.

End of 2009:

AL East:
1. Yankees, 104-58
2. Red Sox, 96-66
3. Rays, 85-77
4. Blue Jays, 75-87
5. Orioles, 69-93
6. Venom, 68-94

The playoff teams are:

AL:
Athletics
Yankees
Red Sox
Tigers

(similar to last year, but replace Indians with Red Sox)

NL:
Astros (the hell?)
Mets
Dodgers
Reds

Overall, the Venom finished 31st in the MLB ahead of the Cubs, while the Wings moved up to 26th this year.


Player stats:

Stanley: 4.58 ERA, 8-12 record, 163 strikeouts
Snead: 4.67 ERA, 10-12 record, 123 strikeouts, 1 save
Reid: 4.73 ERA, 6-8 record, 144 strikeouts
Tremie: 2.95 ERA, 10-2 record, 99 strikeouts
Hampson: 4.08 ERA, 7-11 record, 123 strikeouts
Weibl: 5.41 ERA, 9-11 record, 97 strikeouts

Clontz: 4.10 ERA, 4-6 record, 54 strikeouts, 1 save
Ishizuka: 4.93 ERA, 1-7 record, 53 strikeouts, 1 save
Asencio: 4.04 ERA, 6-4 record, 83 strikeouts, 1 save
Reyes: 10.4 ERA, 0-1 record, 7 strikeouts
Marte: 5.89 ERA, 0-3 record, 38 strikeouts
Meredith: 5.64 ERA, 1-3 record, 93 strikeouts, 3 saves
McNichol: 6.73 ERA, 6-11 record, 85 strikeouts
McGlinchy: 5.19 ERA, 1-1 record, 12 strikeouts

Benoit: 4.58 ERA, 0-3 record, 34 strikeouts, 28/28 saves


Stewart: .332 avg, 17 HR, 78 RBI, 26 SB
Grindell: .244 avg, 11 HR, 82 RBI, 16 SB
Butron: .241 avg, 12 HR, 77 RBI, 8 SB
Roma: .258 avg, 8 HR, 71 RBI, 6 SB
Trammell: .283 avg, 14 HR, 53 RBI, 10 SB
Stults: .237 avg, 18 HR, 76 RBI, 9 SB
Reynolds: .245 avg, 7 HR, 72 RBI, 10 SB
Rivas: .247 avg, 5 HR, 47 RBI, 7 SB
Ormond: .256 avg, 7 HR, 57 RBI, 4 SB

McMillon: .279 avg, 0 HR, 14 RBI, 1 SB
Deardorff: .140 avg, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB
Rottino: .391 avg, 0 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB
Tortolero: .389 avg, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB
Brownlie: .316 avg, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB
Brewer: .235 avg, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB

Time for Aaron to shine in 2010!

2009 Playoffs:

Yankees over Athletics 3-0
Red Sox over Tigers 3-2
Astros over Mets 3-0
Dodgers over Reds 3-0

Red Sox over Yankees 4-3
Dodgers over Astros 4-2

Dodgers over Red Sox 4-0


Dodgers win 2009 World Series
World Series MVP is Ronny Cedeno

Couldn't find a picture of him on the Dodgers. Quite possibly because he never actually played for them.

Awards:

AL:

MVP: A.Rodrigues (Yankees)
Pitcher of the Year: Liriano (Twins)
Hank Aaron Award: A.Rodriguez (Yankees)
Relief Pitcher of the Year: F.Cabrera (Orioles)
Rookie of the Year: Grindell (Venom)

Fielder of the Year:
P: Padilla (Rangers)
C: Napoli (Angels)
1B: Casey (Red Sox)
2B: A.Hill (Blue Jays)
SS: Santiago (Tigers)
3B: Figgins (Angels)
OF: T.Buck (Athletics)
OF: S.Stewart (Venom)
OF: Weibl (Wings)

Hitter of the Year:
DH: D.Ortiz (Red Sox)
C: Varitek (Red Sox)
1B: Konerko (White Sox)
2B: O.Hudson (Royals)
SS: Jeter (Yankees)
3B: A.Rodriguez (Yankees)
OF: Granderson (Tigers)
OF: M.Ramirez (Red Sox)
OF: B.Abreu (Yankees)

NL:

MVP: Beltran (Mets)
Pitcher of the Year: R.Johnson (Diamondbacks)
Hank Aaron Award: Beltran (Mets)
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Neshek (Nationals)
Rookie of the Year: Socarras (Rockies)

Fielder of the Year:
P: Maholm (Pirates)
C: Barrett (Padres)
1B: D.Lee (Cubs)
2B: Utley (Phillies)
SS: Greene (Padres)
3B: Atkins (Rockies)
OF: Dunn (Reds)
OF: D.Roberts (Giants)
OF: J.Encarnacion (Cardinals)

Hitter of the Year:
P: Suppan (Brewers)
C: Martin (Dodgers)
1B: Pujols (Cardinals)
2B: Ellis (Reds)
SS: H.Ramirez (Marlins)
3B: D.Wright (Mets)
OF: Beltran (Mets)
OF: A.Jones (Dodgers)
OF: Victorino (Phillies)

Other Awards:

All-Star Game MVP Award: S.Shields (Angels)
World Series MVP Award: Cedeno (Dodgers)

---

The Venom players and the rest of the organization were ecstatic to find out they won some awards this season. Grindell took Rookie of the Year, which is hopefully a good sign for their future, and Stewart won a Fielder of the Year Award in the outfield, so they'll definitely need to keep him as well.

In contract negotiations, the Venom were able to re-sign everyone they had previously, and none were really demanding high prices.

Highlights included:
Aaron - 410, 1 year
Stewart - 1340, 1 year
Grindell - 900, 1 year
Roma - 740, 1 year
Tremie - 1050, 1 year

Only two players are making more than 1000 a year, but they all signed to 1 year contracts, so the franchise is lacking long-term stability in terms of salary problems.

---

With Free Agency coming up, the GM was reached for comment about his plans:

"No idea, I'll just have to see what's available in my price range. It's not like the team became a super-rich franchise overnight and I can go out and get all the big superstars now, is it?"

I found one.

Good work D-Tigers. We can always count on you to dig up what we need.

Great work dtigers! The picture looks phenomenal!

I actually considered doing that with a picture, but I wouldn't be able to make it look half as realistic as you did. I mean, I think you edited that one. I zoomed in on the pixels pretty closely and some of them didn't seem to fit with the lighting.

---

Venom improve middle infield in Free Agency signings:

The GM made a bit of a surprising move in Free Agency, signing a couple second baseman, including the star Chase Utley to a long-term, somewhat expensive contract.

Added through Free Agency is:

Chase Utley (2B) - 4 year, 3000 point contract
Will likely be the highest paid player on the Venom going into next season, he's coming off a .287, 30 home run, 131 RBI season and is expected to be a tremendous improvement over Luis Rivas and will help out their entire offensive production going forward.

Freddy Sanchez (2B) - 2 year, 1000 point contract
A very capable second baseman that has their signing overshadowed by that of Chase Utley joining the same team, it's unknown what the team plans to do for next season, whether they'll shift some players around in Spring Training, or possibly even wind up trading him.

When reached for comment on the two signings, it seemed the GM actually only offered both of these contracts because he didn't really expect either player to accept them.

You should convert Sanchez to SS

Spring Training:

Aside from general practice, the team's Spring Training changes were some positional changes, teaching Butron how to play Center Field and improving on Sanchez's mediocre ability to play Shortstop.

The Venom's record in Spring Training was 1-2-1, an improvement over the last Spring Training, but still not exactly a desirable record.

---

The GM was reached for comment on his thoughts about the team in general.

"I'm confident we should be able to have a greatly improved season compared to last year, no more competing to try to stay out of last place, I expect us to at least be able to manage a .500 record without a problem this year with the changes we have in place. With Aaron, Utley and Sanchez, the heart of our order isn't even recognizable compared to last year. I've also switched a few pitchers around that I feel should improve the pitching we had last year, and there should be a new addition there. I don't want to talk about him too much now in case he winds up not working out too well, but for now I'll just be hoping we can work out all the paperwork for a deal with him and get him over here in time to put him on the opening day roster."

Stanley West, head scout for the Nashville Venom awoke slowly, stretched out his legs a bit, and looked around at his surroundings. He was in his second year of his scouting job and he still hadn't gotten used to waking up on airplanes, he always panicked slightly before remembering where he was, and why he was there. He drowsily looked at his official Nashville Venom digital watch (which sold less than 100 copies at their team store), and saw that the time was 6:00 PM. He vaguely remembered that his flight was supposed to land at 4:00 PM, but didn't think too much of it. There must have been a delay announced as he slept, and he missed it, and the plane would be landing soon. He quickly fell asleep in his seat again.

He awoke suddenly to the sound of the plane landing and people scrambling to get their luggage, after a split second of panic, he came to his senses and got up himself. Grabbing his suitcase and a small backpack, he hurried off the plane. As soon as he made his way into the airport, a very real sense of panic came over him. He saw flags around that he could only assume were the flag of the country he just landed it, but he didn't recognize them at all. Could he have possibly wound up in the wrong country entirely by mistake, getting on the wrong plane?

The first thought that came to him at this point was also the one that made the most sense, he should call the General Manager immediately and report what's going on. He didn't recognize what currency the payphones took, and didn't have time to go and exchange his money to the currency of a place he had no intention on staying. After asking around a bit (he found himself fortunate enough to be around people who spoke English at least), someone gave him the money to make a phone call. He opened up his messy suitcase and fumbled around for the personal phone number of David Gilles, the GM, and dialed it.

"Hello?"

"Hi... Uh... Mr.Gilles, this is Stanley West, your head scout."

"I know, what's going on? You're calling much earlier than I expected."

"Well... There's a slight problem here."

A few seconds passed before the response and Stanley pictured David raising his eyebrows.

"All right, what's the problem?"

"Well, sir, I have no idea where I am right now."

"What?! How? Weren't the instructions very clear on getting where you were supposed to be going?"

"Yes Mr.Gilles, but I must have somehow gotten on the wrong plane or something. Can you help me get back on track here?"

"I don't know who you think you're working for, Stanley, but we can't afford mistakes like this. I'm sorry, you'll have to stay where you are."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, stay where you are. We'll pay to bring you back, but your job is to scout players and that hasn't changed. Hopefully people play baseball wherever you landed."

"All right... Bye."

Stanley hung up the phone in complete shock. He's supposed to stay here? Scout some players here? He decided on getting his money exchanged and getting a place to stay and think things through. After sitting on the bed for a while he wound up falling over, asleep.

The next time he woke up he looked at a clock in his room, apparently it was morning wherever he was. He adjusted his watch to match the time, then decided this was as good a time to start working, and set off looking for baseball. It turned out not to be a very common sport, as everywhere he went, people were playing soccer. He asked around and it didn't seem like anyone had even heard of baseball, which was very upsetting as someone who's been a baseball fan his whole life.

He didn't know how far he walked when he thought he heard a familiar sound of the ball flying into a catcher's glove. He ran towards the noise and saw some young adults playing baseball in what looked to be someone's backyard. The fences weren't very far out and it looked like old pillows were thrown around in the general area of where the bases would have been. It wasn't perfect, but it was the closest thing to the game he had found so far.

Stanley walked up to the group of people, and rather than fully explaining himself, simply asked if he could watch them play. They seemed rather confused and asked if he would rather play instead, but Stanley insisted on just watching.

He watched them play for what seemed like hours, and was quite disappointed, not only did these people not seem to have any particular talents, it seemed half of them didn't even know the rules of the game. They didn't organize their games by innings and they never had enough people for actual teams and players constantly switched teams back and forth. The sun was getting higher and the heat was about to put Stanley to sleep, when he heard:

"All right Gary, you want to throw?"

"Yeah, I've been waiting all day."

And he forced himself to wake up to watch this pitching change, he hadn't seen this guy pitch yet, he saw him hit a few times and he seemed to be the best at it in the group, but probably wouldn't be able to hit AA pitchers. He sat up straight to watch the first pitch by the new pitcher, and was amazed.

"Damn it man, I told you not to throw that hard." The catcher stood up and walked over to Gary, and removed his catching glove to show him the red mark on his hand.

"Sorry, I forgot you can't take it, do you want to put some extra padding in your glove? You can probably take one of the base pillows, we probably won't be needing them anymore."

Stanley was amazed at the pitch speed Gary showed on that, and was quite amused at the catcher picking up the pillow that was supposed to be third base and putting it inside his glove, it didn't fit well, and he never cleanly caught a pitch after that, but he no longer complained about catching the pitches. Stanley continued to watch, and found out Gary had ridiculous break on some of his pitches as well.

Stanley had decided on what to do. This guy, Gary, definitely seemed to have the talent he was looking for. He stayed around until they were done playing and approached him. Asking if he was interested in playing Major League Baseball, Stanley was surprised to hear that Gary had apparently never heard of it. On explaining, Gary was astonished at the idea of people getting paid a lot of money just to play baseball, and seemed like he would be more than happy to do it.

Stanley wrote down Gary's address and other important contact information and returned to his room to call the GM. In his excitement, he found himself describing Gary as having a "plus-plus-plus" fastball and "plus-plus-plus-plus-plus" breaking pitches. David Gilles didn't quite share the same enthusiasm, doubting that there would be any great players wherever Stanley found himself, but decided to agree that he could offer him a contract if he'd work cheap enough.

Gary was excited to agree to whatever contract was offered, and took the next flight back the the USA with Stanley. After much discussion, Stanley actually even convinced David Gilles to let Gary have a chance at the MLB to start. And he'd be on the roster for the 2010 season if he was available soon enough.

Very detailed, I like it!

2010 Venom Opening Day Roster:

Pitchers:

Starting Rotation:

1. Anakoni Tremie
93 Top Speed
D 124 Control
C 99 Stamina
Level 3 Slider
Level 2 Curveball
Level 5 Knuckleball
Release 2

2. Gary
A Top Speed
B Control
A Stamina
A 2 Seam Fastball
A Sinking Fastball
A ??? Breaking Pitch
Good Potential

3. Raymond Stanley
86 Top Speed
E 118 Control
C 107 Stamina
Level 3 Slider
Level 2 Forkball
Dr. K
Good Reflexes

4. Tonio Snead
90 Top Speed
C 135 Control
C 96 Stamina
Level 2 Slider
Level 2 Curveball

5. Luke Reid
92 Top Speed
D 133 Control
C 100 Stamina
Level 1 2 Seam Fastball
Level 4 Curveball
Level 1 Forkball
Dr. K

6. Mikhail Hampson
88 Top Speed
F 109 Control
C 101 Stamina
Level 1 Slurve
Level 1 Curveball
Level 2 Forkball
Good Small Ball

Relief Pitchers:

Hachiro Ishizuka:
90 Top Speed
D 128 Control
C 105 Stamina
Level 2 Slider
Level 3 Vertical Slider
Poor Small Ball

Bernard Asencio:
98 Top Speed
D 133 Control
C 107 Stamina
Level 2 Curveball
Level 3 Palmball

Aria Palmer:
95 Top Speed
D 123 Control
C 90 Stamina
Level 3 Slider
Level 3 Knuckle Curveball
Level 3 Forkball

Prosper McGlinchy:
88 Top Speed
D 120 Control
C 93 Stamina
Level 3 Slider
Level 5 Curveball

Waldo Clontz:
96 Top Speed
C 136 Control
C 109 Stamina
Level 4 Cutter
Level 3 Curveball
Level 3 Forkball

Cla Meredith:
90 Top Speed
B 173 Control
E 41 Stamina
Level 4 Slider
Level 4 Changeup
Level 3 Sinking Fastball
W/RISP 4
VS Runner 2
Poise 4
Fastball Life 4
Recovery 4
Cautious Stealing
Power Pitcher

Closer: Joaquin Benoit
96 Top Speed
B 157 Control
E 41 Stamina
Level 4 Slider
Level 2 Curveball
Level 5 Splitter
Level 1 Hard Sinker
W/RISP 2
VS LH Batter 4
Poise 2
Recovery 4
Dr.K
Cautious Stealing

Lineup:

1. Shannon Stewart - LF
2 Trajectory
B 12 Contact
C 133 Power
C 10 Run Speed
E 7 Arm Strength
E 7 Fielding
D 9 Error Resistance
Bases Clearer
Throwing 4
Patient Hitter

2. Shawn Grindell - C
2 Trajectory
B 12 Contact
E 96 Power
E 7 Run Speed
D 9 Arm Strength
D 9 Fielding
C 10 Error Resistance
Durability 4

3. Chase Utley - 2B
3 Trajectory
B 12 Contact
A 190 Power
B 12 Run Speed
E 7 Arm Strength
D 8 Fielding
D 9 Error Resistance
Contact Hitter
Good Infield Hitter
Bases Clearer
Consistency 4
Base Running 4
Barehand Catch
Head First Slide
Star
Aggressive Run
Good Rain
Good Eye

4. Henry Aaron - RF
4 Trajectory
A 14 Contact
A 255 Power
B 12 Run Speed
B 12 Arm Strength
C 11 Fielding
E 7 Error Resistance
Clutch Hit 5
VS Lefty 5
Contact Hitter
Power Hitter
Spray Hitter
Push Hitter
Hot Hitter
Tough Out
Good Back to Back Hitter
Firstball Hitter
Consistency 4
Gold Glover
Cannon Arm
Tough Runner
Star
Aggressive Run

5. Freddy Sanchez - SS
2 Trajectory
C 11 Contact
B 147 Power
C 10 Run Speed
C 11 Arm Strength
B 12 Fielding
C 10 Error Resistance
Clutch Hit 4
VS Lefty 4
Contact Hitter
Bases Clearer
Throwing 2
Consistency 4
Barehand Catch
Slap Hitter
Cautious Stealing
Aggressive Fielding
Good Day Game
Good Rain

6. Phil Stults - 1B
3 Trajectory
C 11 Contact
C 129 Power
F 4 Run Speed
F 5 Arm Strength
G 3 Fielding
E 6 Error Resistance
Good Bunt

7. Victor Trammell - DH (3B)
3 Trajectory
C 10 Contact
B 140 Power
F 5 Run Speed
E 7 Arm Strength
E 6 Fielding
E 7 Error Resistance

8. Yakim Roma - 3B
4 Trajectory
D 9 Contact
C 127 Power
F 4 Run Speed
D 8 Arm Strength
F 5 Fielding
D 8 Error Resistance

9. Pegasus Butron - CF
2 Trajectory
C 10 Contact
D 104 Power
E 7 Run Speed
E 7 Arm Strength
E 7 Fielding
D 9 Error Resistance
Throwing 2

Bench:

Milan Ormond - CF
3 Trajectory
E 6 Contact
F 80 Power
B 13 Run Speed
E 7 Arm Strength
D 9 Fielding
E 7 Error Resistance
Throwing 2
Tough Runner

Jonathan Deardorff - C
2 Trajectory
D 9 Contact
E 96 Power
E 7 Run Speed
E 7 Arm Strength
D 8 Fielding
C 10 Error Resistance

Luis Rivas - 2B
2 Trajectory
D 8 Contact
E 85 Power
B 12 Run Speed
F 4 Arm Strength
B 13 Fielding
E 7 Error Resistance
VS Lefty 5
Timely Whiff
Cautious Stealing

---

Team averages to start 2010 are:

Top Speed: 91.9
Control: 128.5
Stamina: 88.5
Breaking Ball Count: 6.7

Trajectory: 2.4
Contact: 9.3
Power: 114.1
Run Speed: 7.3
Arm Strength: 7.6
Fielding: 8.0

More improvements overall, you can see that the team in general should be well above average in their contact hitting ability, and we should have decent power too.