Power Pros Forum

A community-run forum for Power Pros
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 4:21 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 53 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:29 pm 
1st Base Coach
1st Base Coach
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:10 pm
Posts: 668
Location: Texas
Favorite Team: Cardinals
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
cooldude1045 wrote:
Can we see an update on the career stats sometime? Also the stats for each season if possible.


Sure, good idea. I'll take some screens this evening, or at least jot down the main things of interest.

_________________
http://www.inside-corner.com/mlbpp.html
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:38 pm 
1st Base Coach
1st Base Coach
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:10 pm
Posts: 668
Location: Texas
Favorite Team: Cardinals
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
Here are the stats through the end of the 2011 season (year 4). I'm in May of 2012 now, but won't probably post an update until tomorrow or Friday.

Image

_________________
http://www.inside-corner.com/mlbpp.html
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:47 pm 
1st Base Coach
1st Base Coach
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:10 pm
Posts: 668
Location: Texas
Favorite Team: Cardinals
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
Year 5 (2012)

Offseason
Coming off winning my first league MVP award to go with the Hitter of the Year award and batting title, I ended up letting Darryl King negotiate my new contract this year. Talking to other players, he sounds like the man for established players. I thought about going with Jacob, but after considering the options Darryl just seemed like he'd be my best bet. Contract negotiations were drug out for a couple of weeks, the Rangers GM tried to low ball us a bit initially and only offered an increase from $3.3 million to $5.8 million. Even though I'm not eligible for free agency yet, Darryl went back in and dropped the hammer on them, and in the end the team doubled me up to $6.6 million. Emma joked that exactly doubling my salary was symbolic, since I was a double play hitting machine this last year. It's kind of a running joke between us, or more like something she likes to tease me about. It seems like whenever she goes to a game I do well but also manage to ground into at least one double play. We went to dinner one night before the playoffs started with Jarrod Saltalamacchia (who bats 9th while I hit leadoff) and his wife Ashley. Emma was joking to Ashley that "poor Jarod, whenever he gets on with less than 2 outs he must just roll his eyes seeing Dave walk up to the plate. And when Dave is in the on-deck circle he's probably rooting for Jarrod to make an out so he won't ground into another double play!" I guess it is kind of funny, I rolled into 29 double plays last year and probably 27 of those were with Saltalamacchia on first.

Emma and I got married on January 7th! It was pretty cool, even though the day was long and it was kind of a whip after awhile smiling and shaking hands and all. The wedding and reception cost me $32K, which isn't too bad. Emma looked amazing, and a lot of my teammates came. The Rangers manager and coach came too, though the coach felt the need to tell me that now that I was married I need to focus even more on baseball. What a goofball! I was so stunned that he felt the need to say that at the reception that I didn't even have a response.

I did end of practicing on my own almost as much as usual. Emma is pretty understanding that a baseball career is a full-time job even in the offseason. I think it helps that she was able to quit working at the store. She's been taking some accounting classes since we got engaged, saying that even though Matthew hooked me up with a CPA when he did my first contract, we should still know enough to manage our finances and budget so we aren't totally dependent on the CPA to keep us from screwing things up. That's one of the things I love about her, that even though we're young she is looking at the big picture and tries to protect me and our future. I know more than a few players whose wives just want to spend money and not worry about the future, so I'm glad Emma is different.

Spring Training
Back in Arizona from spring training. I'm going to be pissed if I don't get the starting 3B job this year. This is my 5th year in the league, and I feel like I'm in danger of being labeled "DH" as my established position. It's not like I'm a butcher in the field, I'm pretty average really. But I'd get better faster if I had a chance to play third outside of spring training. The stupid manager sticks me at 1B during interleague play in NL parks, but I don't play first other than that so I'm not that good at it. I think that makes me look worse as a fielder. Here is my scouting report for this year:

Image

I've been playing 3B in the spring training games, and it's been fine. I haven't made any errors, and I've gotten a couple of hits in each of the first three games. This afternoon is the last spring training game, then we'll head back to Arlington to start the season next week.

I only got one hit in the last spring training game, ripping a double off the wall in left center and knocking in a pair of runs. The manager expressed relief about me being ready for the season, and said I needed to bring it up a notch for the season. WTF? I'll never understand that guy.

April
*sigh* friggin' DH'ing again, and I can't even complain to the manager or coach about it. I'm so done with this franchise when I hit free agency in a couple of years. I've worked hard on my defense the last couple of years, I guess I'll just keep doing that. I consider Wes Helms a friend, but he shouldn't be starting ahead of me at third. Wes can play 1B, they should move him over there.

I ended last year with a 26 game hitting streak, and I got hits in my first 11 games this year. All I could do was laugh after taking my first 0fer in 37 regular season games the manager scolded me and said his trust in me declined. What a tool.

I got injured on the 12th and missed 3 days, but other than that I've started off the season well again. I've been a strong starter and strong finisher in my career so far, and this year looks to be no exception.

Last night (4/25) I ripped a triple in the 3rd inning, and they flashed up on the scoreboard that it was my 1000th career hit. I obliterated the previous record for fastest to 1000 hits, some guy names Chuck Klein held the record at 683 games. I did it in 60 fewer games!

Got injured - again - in yesterday's game (4/30). This time I'm on the shelf for 6 days, after straining my shoulder diving into 3rd on a triple. Emma was at the house crying when Kinsler dropped me off, he gave me a ride home since my left arm is in a sling. She understands that I'm an aggressive base runner, but she still wishes I wouldn't slide head first all the time. I tried to explain to her that when I'm running the bases it's like I'm not in control of myself and I just dive into bases even when the play isn't that close. I wish I could stop myself from doing that.

The team closed the month with a 24-4 record, and we've already got an 8 game lead over second place Oakland.

May
While I was on the shelf I played a bunch of golf with my new Pro Spec clubs, and got my skill up to "A."

After getting back in the lineup my motivation has been riding high and I've been making a more conscious attempt to hit for power. I figure I can sacrifice a little batting average since I'm at .409 on the year. I jacked homers in 4 consecutive games, and won a Player of the Week award.

The team went 22-6 for the month, we're already running away with the division!

Making a big salary has been nice because I've been able to afford a lot of nice practice equipment. It was a bit painful dropping $1,000,000 on a hi-tech overhead press machine, but I can tell my arm strength has been increasing quite a bit from using it.

June
Once again being a DH has kept me from getting any All-Star consideration from fans. I'm getting more than a little bitter about that. I've continued to just rake the ball at the plate, I'm hitting .390 and am on pace to break last year's career high of 25 homers. Hopefully I can stay healthy, I've resorted to taking multivitamins to try to keep my injury resistance up.

July
Wow... I walked into the locker room before today's game (7/7) and saw Wes cleaning out his locker. The manager called me into the office, and informed me that the team had traded Helms to the Braves and that I would be the everyday 3B from here on out! I'm happy that I'm finally getting to play 3B, but a bit mixed feeling because I'll miss Wes. I was hoping the team would just move him over to 1B, since we've been playing Khalil Greene there and getting nothing out of him.

In ironic fashion, I got hurt diving for a ball in my 2nd game in the field and missed 3 days recovering.

I got added to the All-Star team by coach selection, so I'm going to Atlanta for the game.

I only got one at-bat in the All-Star game, but I cracked a pinch hit homer leading off the 8th against Kerry Wood to tie the game at 3. The NL came back with a run in the 9th to win it though, and Papelbon got the MVP award for the second year running.

After the All-Star game I hit 7 homers in a week to climb to 24 on the season, and I won another Player of the Week award.

Emma and I had a nice afternoon out on her birthday (7/25) before the team had to head out for a road trip. At dinner she told me she was pregnant, and expecting our first child on 4/13! I was stunned since it was unexpected, but we're both really happy.

I got hurt again on 7/27, and will miss another 5 games. This is getting frustrating!

I did manage to win Player of the Month for July even though I missed a week with injuries.

August
I got back in the lineup, but my motivation has been lacking lately. The ball is coming off my bat like a marshmellow even when I make good contact. I've managed to scratch out enough hits to keep my average in the .380s, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to break my single season hits record again this year. I'll have to get really hot in September and avoid injury.

We wrapped up the division on the last day of the month, so it looks like September will be a non-factor for playoff positioning.

I won Player of the Month for August, that's two months in a row!

September
With the rosters expanding on 9/1, I've found myself back at DH while a AAA call-up named Piel gets a look at 3B. His fielding ability is basically the same as mine, but he is nowhere near as developed offensively. I've had to bite my tongue about not getting any time at 3B this month, we've got the playoffs coming up and I haven't even been a full-time 3B in the majors for half a season yet. It makes no sense to me that the manager is limiting my time in the field now. Emma suggested he might just be trying to keep me fresh, so I don't wear down. Who knows...

The team finished up the year strong. We're getting the wildcard White Sox in the first round of the playoffs. I was pressing a bit in the last week trying to get my average to .400, but I finished at .397, with 30 homeruns, 63 RBI out of the leadoff spot, and 36 stolen bases. Not bad…

October
Good ol’ Mia, saw her on TV with her typical prediction that we’re going to take a beating in the playoffs. I can’t help but laugh at how stupid she is. How did Oakley ever see anything in her? Speaking of Oakley, I haven’t talked to him in ages. I should see what he’s up to other than sitting at home watching the playoffs.

So much for Mia’s prediction, again. We blew out the White Sox in all three games to take the LDS. I was back at 3B for every game, which was cool. We’re kicking back practicing and waiting for the winner of the Yankees-Indians series. It’s 2-1 New York, so it’ll most likely be them.

Looks like we’ve got Cleveland coming to town, the Indians came back and won the series 3-2.

Game 1 went back and forth, but we pulled it out 5-4. I singled and stole second with 2 outs in the 8th, and Crisp singled me home for the game winner. Cleveland went down 1-2-3 in the 9th and that was that.

In game 2 the Indians jumped out early on our starter. Ichiro led off with a double, and that set the tone. They scored 6 in the 1st, and eventually won 8-4. I had a couple of hits, but they didn’t amount to any production. I blew a chance in the 6th, I was up with two outs and men on 2nd and 3rd and I lined out to short to end the inning.

We went to Cleveland after that, where we took games 3 and 4 to go up 3-1 in the series. I went hitless in both games, pretty much sucking up the place. In both games I struck out in key spots with runners in scoring position. So much for the “intimidator” reputation I was starting to build. I came back in game 5 though, going 4-5 with a double, 2 stolen bases, and 3 RBI. Our bullpen melted down though, and we lost 11-8. Back to Arlington for game 6. Hopefully we can wrap up the series and get some rest. I’ve just about bottomed out.

Game 6 started out ugly, we gave up 5 in the 1st. We got a couple of runs back in the bottom of the first after I led off with a double and Michael Young homered, but we gave them back in the 3rd. I singled and eventually scored in the bottom of the 3rd to make it 7-3, and then we scored two in the 5th and four in the 6th to pull ahead 9-7. Our bullpen held on and we’re headed back to the World Series! The Dodgers also beat the Mets in 6 games, so we’re heading to Los Angeles in a couple of days.

The World Series is starting to be anticlimactic. We got back home from Los Angeles this morning, after pounding the Dodgers in the first two games (10-1 and 7-0).

Games 3 and 4 went pretty much the same as the first two as we easily swept the Dodgers. That gives us 3 championships in a row! Jeff Francoeur got the WS MVP award, though I’m not entirely sure why. He played great, but I went 11-17 and terrorized the Dodgers on the base paths. No big deal I guess, it shouldn’t hurt my contract negotiations not to have won it.

After the World Series it was announced that I was voted AL MVP again this season, and I also won the Hitter of the Year award!

Contract negotiations should be fun this year....

_________________
http://www.inside-corner.com/mlbpp.html
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 6:26 pm 
Wiki Contributor
Wiki Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:45 pm
Posts: 7534
Location: In front of the TV playing Power Pros
Favorite Team: Astros
Console '07: Wii and PS2
Console '08: Wii and PS2
Favorite Japanese title: (Wii) Jikkyou Powerful Major League 2009
Great job Wyl!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 6:39 pm 
Head Coach
Head Coach
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:43 am
Posts: 891
Location: Dodger Stadium
Favorite Team: Dodgers
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
Bad programming, Dodgers are supposed to be all about pitching!!! Nice that your smashing the ball around again.

I really feel ya on the stuck in DH/bench role. Hope this next year makes you permanent.

_________________
Max D. Sterling
Global Moderator
mostly retired PowerPros player

Report Spammers to me or Darkshade via Private Message.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:47 am 
Wiki Contributor
Wiki Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:54 pm
Posts: 3438
Favorite Team: Red Sox
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
Favorite Japanese title: Don't Own
Head first slide is annoying. I hope they fix it for next year. You have a bigger chance of injury, and less chance of beating out an infield hit. I'll never understand how that's a "good" ability.

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/Deathjohnson

Quote:
Hello
Though I am not a coach, I can coach, please trust me!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:24 am 
Wiki Contributor
Wiki Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:45 pm
Posts: 7534
Location: In front of the TV playing Power Pros
Favorite Team: Astros
Console '07: Wii and PS2
Console '08: Wii and PS2
Favorite Japanese title: (Wii) Jikkyou Powerful Major League 2009
It's driving me nuts too! It's hurting my steal totals!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:05 pm 
Ace
Ace
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:03 pm
Posts: 518
Favorite Team: Padres
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
cooldude1045 wrote:
Head first slide is annoying. I hope they fix it for next year. You have a bigger chance of injury, and less chance of beating out an infield hit. I'll never understand how that's a "good" ability.


It's so annoying. The game gives it to you pretty much for running the bases. I wish my guy didn't have it. instead of beating out infield hits, he's getting gunned by noodle armed third basemen.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:53 pm 
1st Base Coach
1st Base Coach
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:10 pm
Posts: 668
Location: Texas
Favorite Team: Cardinals
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
Year 6 (2013)

Offseason
I thought quite a bit about which agent to use, and ended up going with Darryl again. The negotiations got drug out for 3 weeks, but we ended up signing for $10.5 million. I worked hard in the offseason on my fielding, now that I've gotten a shot to be the full-time 3B I don't want to give it back up!

Spring Training
The manager is me playing me at 3B this spring, and has dropped me from leadoff to #3 in the order. I guess that's fine. I like batting leadoff, but with my power game getting better I understand the value of being in a better RBI spot in the lineup.

The exhibition games were pretty uneventful. I didn't hit that great, but I didn't do terribly. I wanted to smack the manager though after the last game. I took an 0fer where the shortstop made a diving stop on a hard grounder up the middle and threw me out, then made a leaping catch on a hard liner, then the left fielder made a shoestring catch on a sinking liner, then the center fielder climbed the fence and robbed me of a homerun. After the game the manager ragged me, saying I was only bringing my "B" game. I swear the idiot didn't even watch the game and only looked at the box score.

April
When we opened the season at home I was back in the leadoff spot and playing 3B. That works for me. I started off slowly though, getting only one hit in the first games. I think I was trying to do too much at the plate, and was giving away at bats being too aggressive. Fortunately the guys picked me up, and we took 2 out of 3 in that opening series.

I settled in at the plate once we got to Seattle, getting a couple of hits in each of the first two games and 3 hits in each of the last two games. On the 12th I got a call right before our night game in Oakland from Emma that she had gone into labor and her sister was taking her to the hospital. I was going to leave immediately, but she said that it would probably be awhile and that I should play the game and then fly home afterwards. Naturally the game went 15 innings, so with the time change I didn't get back to DFW and to the hospital until 4am. I ran into the maternity ward in a flash and found Emma's sister. Just then a nurse came out, saying Emma had just given birth to a baby boy! She led me into Emma's room, where the nurses were finishing up cleaning the baby and taking measurements. The nurse that was recording the meaurements asked Emma what the baby's name was, and she looked at me and said "Dave, you pick a good name." Why didn't we have this conversation months ago? "uhhh [my mind racing] ... Flash?" note to self: never try to come up with a baby name at 4am following an extra innings game, a red-eye flight, and a mad dash from the airport to the hospital. ...hmmm... Dash? Keep that name in mind...

Even though I wanted to stay with Emma and Flash, she suggested I rejoin the team since she was well taken care of at the hospital and we'd be back home from our roadtrip in just a couple of more days for a 7 game homestand. So after a few hours of sleep I got back to Oakland in time for that night's game. Even though I was dead tired I was riding high on adrenaline and managed to go 3-4 in a nice comeback win.

After we got back home it was just getting settled into life as a dad. I'm a bit sleep deprived, but home life is great and I finished up April on a nice roll at the plate.

May
I managed to get myself injured again, on a bone-headed play of diving headfirst into first base trying to beat out a grounder. That kept me out of the lineup for 6 days.

I came back with my motivation riding high, and went on a power surge. I finished the month with 17 homers, well ahead of last year's pace.

June
June continued where May left off, and I took home the Player of the Month award along with a pair of Player of the Week awards. I'm third in the batting title race behind Mauer (again) and Torii Hunter, but I'm leading the league in homers.

July
The team has continued its hot play, just like the last couple of years we're running away with the division. We've opened up a 20 game lead over Los Angeles.

In the All-Star voting, I'm finally getting votes since I've been playing 3B full-time. When the first and second updates came out I wasn't in the top 3, but I slipped into third behind David Wright and Miguel Cabrera in the third vote update. I moved ahead of Cabrera in the 4th results, and in the last results beat out Wright by 30,000 votes to win the starter vote!

The All-Star game featured some great pitching, and the game was scoreless through 7. I was 0-2 to that point. In the top of the 8th Jeter got on with 1 out against Papelbon, who has been the All-Star game MVP the last two years. This time - I jumped on a first pitch fastball and hit a bomb into the right center field stands to give the AL a 2-0 lead. That held up for the win, and I took home the MVP award!

August
I slumped in August and my motivation dropped, and I was feeling awful purple as my average dropped 20 points. Every hit seemed like pulling teeth, nothing coming easy at all. At least the team played well, and we clinched the division title on the last day of the month.

September
I spent a lot of time reading in my free time this year, getting more cultured and all. On the current roadtrip I could have sworn I threw a mystery novel in my bag to read, but when I went to kick back and read in the hotel room all I found was a romance novel. Hmm ... I don't remember buying any romance novels. Is Emma trying to tell me something? I tried to read it a couple of times but it was too difficult to understand. On the third try though I was able to get through some of it, and I finished the book up on the roadtrip. I guess I'm an "A" in culture now. I started reading a baseball biography after we got back home, and I'm learning a ton from it!

October
We've got home field throughout the playoffs. We started off hosting Minnesota since the wildcard went to the Angels. The Twinkies gave us more trouble than I thought they would, I think we took them too lightly. The series ended up going the full 5 games before we won. After that we took on Toronto, in a series that featured a bunch of blowouts on both sides. I had the best game of my career in the game 6 clincher, going 5-5 with 5 solo homeruns. Unbelievable.

The World Series matchup was us against Milwaukee again. Former teammate Brandon Webb shut us down in game 1, and I took an 0fer in the shutout loss. I cranked two homers to even the series in game 2, and then we went up to Milwaukee. I smacked another blast leading off game 3, and then doubled in a pair of runs in the 4th. Our bullpen melted down though and coughed up a 5 run lead in the last two innings.

We tied things up again in game 4, and then took game 5 to go up 3-2. With a chance to wrap things up in game 6 our starter gave up 6 runs in the first and we never got back into it. I hit my 5th homer of the series, but we lost 9-2. I led off game 7 with a homer as well, then hit a 3 run homer in the 6th to give us the lead. The Brewers got back to within one run, but I singled home an insurance run in the 8th. Fortunately the bullpen came through and held the lead! World Series champs again!

I won the WS MVP award, and the next day at the award announcements I found out I won the AL MVP award for the third sraight year, the Hank Aaron award after leading the league with 55 homeruns, and the Hitter of the Year award. Now that I've played 6 years in the majors I'm eligible for free agency. So I'll have some decisions to make this offseason....

_________________
http://www.inside-corner.com/mlbpp.html
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:44 pm 
Ace
Ace
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:03 pm
Posts: 518
Favorite Team: Padres
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
This is my favorite topic on the board. Highly entertaining and well though out Wyl.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 1:28 pm 
Wiki Contributor
Wiki Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:45 pm
Posts: 7534
Location: In front of the TV playing Power Pros
Favorite Team: Astros
Console '07: Wii and PS2
Console '08: Wii and PS2
Favorite Japanese title: (Wii) Jikkyou Powerful Major League 2009
The baby thing in april was funny! :lol:


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:24 pm 
1st Base Coach
1st Base Coach
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:10 pm
Posts: 668
Location: Texas
Favorite Team: Cardinals
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
Thanks guys :) They're fun to write, even if they feel a bit like a fanfic at times -lol-

Head 1st slide is still wearing me out. Dave is fast enough (B 13) that ground balls to the left side are often close enough to trigger a dive into 1st. I find myself cringing with each one, hoping not to see the red exclamation point flash up over his head. I really wish the devs would at minimum adjust things for next year so batters don't dive into 1st.

An interesting observation is being far enough along in years to see so many active players retiring and seeing drafted players involved as the key pieces of "blockbuster" trades.

_________________
http://www.inside-corner.com/mlbpp.html
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:47 pm 
Head Coach
Head Coach
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:43 am
Posts: 891
Location: Dodger Stadium
Favorite Team: Dodgers
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
The code SHOULD be

Diving to first = 8th inning or later only, and 1-2 runs down. OR having gone 0 fer X and has a 15+ game hit streak going.

_________________
Max D. Sterling
Global Moderator
mostly retired PowerPros player

Report Spammers to me or Darkshade via Private Message.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:50 pm 
Ace
Ace
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:03 pm
Posts: 518
Favorite Team: Padres
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
I agree that it shouldn't happen at firstbase. It's useless. I learned in little league not to do because A) it's dangerous and B) the last thing you want to do going into first base is slow down.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Player Log: Dave Willis (3B)
PostPosted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:37 pm 
1st Base Coach
1st Base Coach
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:10 pm
Posts: 668
Location: Texas
Favorite Team: Cardinals
Console '07: Nintendo Wii
Console '08: Nintendo Wii
Year 7 (2014)

Offseason
After making a near clean sweep of last season's awards, I went back and forth on whether to declare for free agency or to sign another one year deal with the Rangers. My current agent, Darryl King, was pushing me to go free agent in order to get the most money. I had him negotiate with the Rangers initially, but got very frustrated when Darryl came back with a one year $14.5 million offer. With the year I had and being eligible for free agency, I really expected the Rangers to bring more to the table than a 38% raise over last year. Maybe this organization is getting a little too arrogant about taking care of its players since we've won the World Series 5 years running. I guarantee they'll never win another WS in my career if I go somewhere else.

I sent Darryl back to negotiate some more, and the Rangers came back with $16.6 and then $17.1. Darryl really wanted me to declare for free agency, so I asked him to scope out some informal offers from other teams to see what we were looking at. He told me that the White Sox were offering 5 years x $18 million, the Phillies were suggesting 5 x $17.5 million, and the Mets were tossing around numbers like 6 x $16.7 million. The Rangers said if I went free agency they'd only offer the original $14.5 million, but for 5 years. I was so mad at the situation that I fired Darryl and went back to Matthew, who pushed the Rangers for a couple of weeks and got me a one year deal at $19.5 million. I had gone into negotiations originally expecting $20+, but in the interest in getting a deal done I went ahead and signed. Emma wasn't pushing me in one direction or another, but I knew her preference was to stay with Texas. We had just had our first child this last year, and had bought a new $10 million house that we moved into over the summer. She wouldn't object if we needed to move on, she understands the realities of my career. But all things being equal she'd rather stay put, and that's fine with me. I'm not going to get caught by surprise in contract negotiations next year though.

Once the contract was done, the offseason was fairly routine. I actually didn't spend as much time practicing alone as usual, instead choosing to spend more time with the family and focusing on improving my mental/concentration skills by playing a lot of chess, and puzzle and RPG video games. I'm hoping that I'll be able to sharpen that edge to my game, and not struggle as much with low motivation and not being able to hit consistently when I'm going through those times. Emma has me listening to more music as well, with the baby around it seems like there is always some weird "ocean sounds" or "forest sounds" or similar CDs playing. I guess it is supposed to be soothing, and I do think I'm more relaxed than I have been. I listened to a new rock CD the other day and got a headache from it, which is kind of freaking me out. I'm too young to get old man music disease.

Spring Training
Knowing how our stupid manager is, I've gotten pretty good at just tuning out his commentary either way, and not letting it get to me. It took me a few games to get it going in spring training, probably because I was a little more rusty than usual from not practicing as much in the offseason. So the manager was griping at me a lot. After the 3rd game he was going off on me, and I finally asked how many f'in MVP awards in a row did I need to win before I earned the benefit of the doubt on my preparation. He got so furious he couldn't hardly respond, which was hilarious because the guys within hearing distance were dying trying not to crack up in front of the manager. Afterwards Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Adrian Gonzalez were ragging on me for big timing the manager, getting away with saying things that would get a regular guy sent down to AAA or cut outright.

We had the last exhibition game a few days later, and I went 4-5 with a pair of doubles. It was great after the game, as the manager walked through the clubhouse I could tell he was intentionally avoiding me, so I shouted out "hey, should I say 'I told you so' now, or wait until later?" He glared at me and just said he was relieved that I finally showed up. I think he must have taken note of who was laughing the other day, because when we broke camp Saltalamacchia got shipped down to AAA even though he was the everyday catcher the last couple of years, and the rookie Oliveros we're keeping on the MLB roster is less skilled. I told Jarrod that I'd see him in a couple of weeks once he had served his sentence -lol-

My scouting report this year looks like this:
Image

April
I hit the ground running, and won the Player of the Week award each of the first 3 weeks, and the Player of the Month award. My power game has picked up where it left off end of last year, and I'm just ripping the cover off the ball. I got my 1500th career hit on the 14th.

It's become commonplace and I'm trying not to take it for granted, but the team has continued being the class of the majors. We're off to a 23-3 start to the season as April draws to a close. With the unbalanced schedule we've taken advantage of playing our division rivals heavily at the start of each season, and have already put 2nd place Oakland at comfortable distance in the rearview mirror. I slept on the flight to Detroit last night and haven't looked at the current standings, but we were up 8 games the other day.

May
I promised myself in the offseason not to get caught offguard in contract negotiations this year, so I've already started working the agent channels and privately scoping out other teams. If the Rangers GM low balls me again I'm just going to walk. I'm spending a lot of my free time talking to people, inviting agents and players over for video games or chess, or for a golf outing or going out for meals. I'm playing great, so I'm not real worried about practicing on my own as much as I have in the past.

Ever since I changed the trajectory of my swing last August to get more lift, balls that were previously line drives in the gaps have been carrying out of the park. I hit my 150th career homer last night, which I think is pretty good since I didn't even hit my first career homer until halfway through my second season in the bigs. My doubles and triples are a bit down this year as a result, but no one is complaining about the tradeoff -lol-

I won the Player of the Month award for the second month in a row, and the team went 25-2 for the month. I thought we'd miss Eric Bedard more when he left for free agency, but Jake Peavy and Felix Hernandez have done a great job anchoring the pitching staff.

June
I'm still raking like crazy, and if anything I've gotten even hotter. I'm on pace to have about 50 homers at the All-Star break if I keep it up. No one has ever had a season like that before! I'm hitting .450 and also on pace to obliterate my own single season hits record. The downside is that I'm hearing the speculation about what illegal performance enhancing drugs I'm on. I guess that's life here in the post-steroids era, that any great accomplishment has to be looked upon with suspicion.

I don't get fans. I'm having a season for the ages, and when the first All-Star voting standing came out I was third behind David Wright and Miguel Cabrera, again. I checked the stats and Wright is having a good season - second to *me* in every major hitting category, plus I'm leading the league in stolen bases and he's not in the top 20! Cabrera is getting votes just on name recognition and the fact the game is being played in Detroit. The guy has no mobility and would be a DH if management had to guts to sit his fat ... uhh ... contract down. I guess being the best player on the best team, a freakin' dynasty no less, doesn't amount to much anymore.

For good measure I won the Player of the Month award for the third consecutive month. Me - 3, Rest of the AL - 0. Frustrated? Check.

July
I overtook Cabrera when the second All-Star voting update came out, but I was about 50K votes behind Wright. Today the third update came out, and I'm 100K back! Okay, so Wright has taken over the league lead in RBIs, but I'm still ahead of him in everything else!

Sometimes I think I play my best when I've got a chip on my shoulder. After the last AS voting update, I hit 3 homers that night and went on to hit 7 for the week and pickup another Player of the Week award. But damned if Wright didn't extend his lead on me to 110K votes. I griped at the team PR guy today for the first time in awhile, the team needs to make more of an effort to get me some publicity. I've supposedly got a lot of fans, where is the team's effort to promote me and get some ballot box stuffing going on like everywhere else in the league?

The final results came out and Wright easily won the starter vote. He ended up around 6.3 million votes, 150K ahead of me and a million ahead of Cabrera. The coaches selected me as an alternate, but I'm not going. Screw that, I'm going to take the time off and just hang out at home. No sense in wasting my time hanging out in Detroit for a few days just to get a token pinch hitting appearance. My manager told me before this afternoon's game that the league office requested my participation in the home run derby. I told him to tell them they should get David Wright instead, that's who the "fans" wanted anyway. The manager said to take a couple of days to decide and to let him know. Whatever.

So ... I'm going to Detroit for the All-Star game. I was ranting about the situation to the agent Jacob while he was over at the house playing video games with me, and after he left Emma let me have it. She told me I was being a self-centered jackass, vainly concerned more about popularity and personal accomplishments than the success of the team. And that even though I was having an incredible season, I thought entirely too much of myself and I was highly annoying to be around. She said if I talked about myself half as much in the clubhouse as I did at home it would explain why we hadn't been invited out to dinner or anywhere else by my teammates or their wives/girlfriends in a couple of months. Ouch... there's nothing quite like a firey redhead, and when Emma gets going she is every bit the part. Though truthfully it's pretty rare that I see that side of her. After she got done whisper yelling at me (to keep from waking up Flash), she spun around and stormed out of the room without giving me a chance to respond. Knowing when to cut my losses, I didn't bother getting up from the couch and following her. I sat there stewing while my mind raced. what happened to a wife supporting her husband??? I cut off the game I was playing on the Xbox720, and threw in the DVD the video staff put together for me of tomorrow's starting pitcher. As is my nightly habit, I started studying the pitcher's delivery and looking for pitch selection and location tendencies, but I couldn't concentrate. So I flipped the plasma over to the 1am SportsCenter and knocked back a couple Shiner Bocks while watching the highlights. The Rangers highlights were all Mark Hendrickson, he pitched a 3 hit shutout on a day when the offense barely scratched out a pair of runs (one unearned). We've got a good team, more than just me. While half-watching TV I went from being angry at Emma to accepting that she was right, I've been a jerk all season and was too self-absorbed to realize it. For that matter I've been insufferable going back to the contract negotiations last winter. I heard Flash stirring around 3:30am so I grabbed him before he woke Emma up and got him settled back down. I slipped quietly into our bedroom, where just enough moonlight was coming through the blinds to outline Emma's shape sleeping on the bed. I paused to just watch her for a minute, and reflected on where I was in my career and my life. In my obsession with votes and popularity I had lost track of what was really important. I woke Emma up and told her that she was right, and apologized for how I'd been acting. She began crying in that weird way girls sometimes do when they're really happy. We stayed up a couple of hours before falling off to sleep. Fortunately the nanny takes care of Flash until mid-morning.

I did end up participating in the home run derby, getting to the 2nd round before getting knocked out by the last hitter - David Freakin' Wright. How comical is that? Evan Longoria ended up winning it though.

In the All-Star game I got my token pinch hitting appearance, hitting a soft flare over short off Brandon League for a single leading off the 8th with the AL down 2-1. I got gunned down trying steal 2nd after Mauer had popped out, and we went quietly in the 9th against the ancient Jason Isringhausen. Looks like the NL will be hosting the Rangers for game 1 of the World Series this year -lol-

I finished up July with my streak of Player of the Month awards intact, I've still got a monopoly on the award for this season.

August
As usually happens this time of year, the Texas heat in the dog days of August really beats down my motivation. Hitting is not coming easy, and I'm having to just focus on making good contact at the sacrifice of power. I've been able to keep my average up around .425, and it seems like a foregone conclusion that I'll be the first major leaguer to hit over .400 since Ted Williams 70something years ago. Quite a season since barring a major injury Barry Bonds' record of 73 home runs in a season will fall to me as well.

Because of my unprecedented offensive season and the media fervor around it, the commissioner's office approached the player's union about me voluntarily submitting to additional drug testing. The union chief was adamant that I didn't agree to it because it wasn't collectively bargained and because of the precedent it would set, but given the circumstances I felt it was in my best interests to just lay the rumors to rest. I've got nothing to hide anyway, I'm not on anything other than Protein Max when I'm training, Powerin Max to keep up my energy level, and the occasional multivitamin. So I agreed to participate in the WADA continual testing program, which includes just about daily blood tests. As expected, the results are coming back clean. And as expected, some people still want to think I'm cheating and am just on something currently undetectable. Whatchagonnado?

Even with my power outage for most of August, I passed 200 hits on the year early in the month and 250 hits in the last week as we wrapped up the division. Matt Cain threw a shutout in the clincher. We actually had our worst month of the season as a team, we "only" went 20-7. I picked up Player of the Month again. One more time and it is a clean season sweep!

September
The September callups are here, and with them the team finally brought Salty back up from the minors. I can't believe they made him toil in AAA all season. Oliveros has done a decent job as our catcher, but he's not the same player at the plate that Saltalamacchia is. In any case, Salty has been playing just about everyday, and other AAA guys are getting looks at different positions. One of my new friends this year, Ronny Cedeno, isn't real happy about being bumped off of 2B and having his playing time diminish, and I can't blame him for that. Even if it is September and we've already wrapped up the division, we still need to be sharp for the playoffs. Instead we're playing inconsistently and guys don't know from one game to the next whether they'll be playing or not. Strangely enough I've been an exception this year, I've stayed in the lineup at 3B every game. The last few years I've spent a lot of September DH'ing.

My magical season has continued, and I hit homerun #74 on the 10th to set the all-time record. That was also the 300th homer of my career. A couple of days earlier I got hit #274 to break my own single season record. I won't catch David Freakin' Wright in the RBI race, but I'm also leading the league in stolen bases. On the 17th I stole my 50th base of the season, becoming the first ever 50-50 player in major league history.

I don't know if it has made much of a difference, but for years I've been endorsing Mizzoto equipment and using it exclusively. Earlier in the year I got turned on to a high-end master craftsman who was said to make the "ultimate" bats, gloves, and spikes, tailored to the specific player. It set me back $7 million, but after meeting with the guy I went ahead and ordered a complete set. It feels like my abilities have been advancing faster with the new bats and glove (I can't run faster than I already do), but I could be imagining things. The only thing I haven't liked about the new equipment actually is the color. Years ago when I started going steady with Emma I switched from black bats to red, one of those goofy little romantic things you do when you're in love that makes people around you want to puke -lol- Well, that happened around the time my power game started to take off, so I've just stuck with the red bats through the years. I have also always used a blue fielder's glove, going back to high school when my dad gave me his Rawlings Mike Schmidt model glove after I made the varsity team as a freshman. Anyway, the master craftsman of this "ultimate" line is an older guy and is a very old school traditionalist. Every bat he makes is natural wood color, and every glove is natural brown leather. I know it was just mental, but I had a mini-slump both at the plate and in the field after switching to the ultimate equipment. After a handful of games with them though I was back on track, better than ever.

The team closed out the season with a sick 144-18 record, shattering the previous mark for wins in a season. Hernandez, Peavy, Willis, and Cain all had over 20 wins, the first time 4 or more pitchers on a team have done that since the Orioles staff of the 1970s. I ended the season riding a 41 game hitting streak, and finished up with a .437 average, 81 homers, 158 RBI, 317 hits, and xx stolen bases. I led the league in average, hits, homers, and stolen bases, setting major league records for homers and hits. I also completed my season sweep of the Player of the Month award! We're looking at a first round playoff matchup with Boston.

October
I think a lot of guys on the team started to let all of the accolades we've received go to their heads, especially the ones who haven't been with us for previous playoff runs. While we were feeling great about ourselves, Boston came in and kicked our tails in game 1, 8-1. We couldn't get anything going at the plate against Ian Snell, and Felix Hernandez really struggled with his command. It didn't help that on defense we seemed a step slow. We only made two errors that showed up in the box score, but we had some mental mistakes and mishandled a couple of would be DPs that extended innings. I went 1-4 at the plate, leading off the game with a single and then doing nothing after that.

Game 2 started off shaky, as we got down 3-0 after Iwamura lifted one over the left field wall in the top of the 4th. As we came off the field at the end of the inning I noticed the crowd noise was different, the buzz was one of nervousness and anxiousness. That mood seemed to be going through the dugout as well, the guys looked tight and there was a palpable tension. I was leading off the inning since we'd been no-hit to that point, so I stood at the top of the dugout steps and looked back at the dugout and said loud enough for everyone to hear "alright, alright! I'll go up there and hit one 500 ft. for you guys, then ya'll can lighten up and we'll get this show back on the road!" I took a first pitch changeup from Lester, then he hung a curve on 1-0 and I hit it a mile .... straight up. I'm not sure that the catcher Halter had to move other than standing up. When I got back to the dugout and sat down on the bench you could practically hear the crickets chirping it was so quiet. "I just said I was going to hit it 500', I didn't say in which direction!" I quipped, and the guys all started cracking up. If the TV cameras were on the dugout at that point they must have thought we were crazy. My "prediction" had the desired effect anyway. Cedeno drew a walk, Gonzalez singled him over to third, and then with two outs Young doubled them both home to get us back to 3-2. We exploded for 5 more in the 5th and 4 in the 7th, and survived Clay Meredith's 9th inning meltdown to hold on for a 11-8 victory.

We headed out to Boston after game 2, and continued our offensive roll. I lead off games 3 and 4 with homers, and we smacked around their starters to put them in a big hole each game. We took the series 3-1, and are heading back home to face the Yankees, who swept Cleveland in their first round series.

The Yanks don't match up very well with us, mainly because their starting pitching staff is mostly young soft tossers. Their offense is good, but we've got great starting pitching. Ubaldo Jimenez, our #5 starter, held them scoreless in game 1 over 6 innings, and the bullpen finished up in our 5-1 win. Hernandez was inconsistent for a second start in a row, but he battled and we won 7-4. Peavy gave up a pair of solo homers to A-Rod, but shutdown the rest of the lineup as we took game 3 6-2. Cain finished up the sweep with complete game shutout. So it's hang out and practice and rest time until the Milwaukee-New York series wraps up.

We got the Brewers for the third year in a row in the World Series. Brandon Webb shut us down as they took game 1 from us in our yard, but we bounced back in game 2 to even things up. We dropped game 3 at their place, mainly because we arrived but our gloves and bats apparently didn't get shipped from Texas. It was an ugly game where we didn't hit or field, losing 7-0. Hernandez had another rough outing, I think he's pretty much out of gas. In game 4 I went 5-6 with 4 RBI as we got the series back to 2-2, and then in game 5 Cain had another strong start. We needed it, the offense did just enough to win 2-1. In game 6 back home in Arlington, Willis kept us in the game, giving up 4 runs over 5 innings as the offenses went back and forth. Down 6-5 in the 7th, I came up with 2 outs and men on 2nd and 3rd. I was so shocked they didn't intentionally walk me that I took a fastball right down the middle for strike 1. I got down 1-2 in the count before lacing a single up the middle to plate the two runners and give us the lead. Milwaukee responded with a run in the top of the 9th to tie it up, then I tripled with one out in the bottom of the 9th and scored the winning run on a sac fly by Salty, who pinch hit for Cedeno. World Series champs again!

The post-season awards got announced the next day, and I took home the MVP for the 4th consecutive year, along with the Hank Aaron award and Hitter of the Year award.

_________________
http://www.inside-corner.com/mlbpp.html
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 53 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group