SBNation.com User Blog: ahoque24

Baseball Mogul League

ahoque24 — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:02:22 -0000

In the comments on today's Bird Droppings, a few of us had the idea of making a Camden Chat Baseball Mogul league. If you don't know what Baseball Mogul is, it's a baseball simulation game. Basically, you're the GM of the team, so you draft players, groom prospects, convince Albert Pujols that Baltimore is the greatest city on the planet. Besides managing your team, you also have to manage your finances (TV contracts, ticket prices, etc.). The 2006 version was released for free, and you can download it here.

I'm pretty new to Baseball Mogul, so I still don't know much about it, but I'm willing to try an online league. Unfortunately, as I'm new to it, I really don't know how to make a league. In the open thread, though, NewYorkOriole said we would have to email a file around to each other, so once we agree to make a league we'd have to exchange email addresses (and it would be a bit of a pain, but I think it'd be worth it). Yes, I sound like an idiot, but I'll probably figure it out.

If you're interested, leave a comment. Also, if you already know how to make a league, feel free to make a Camden Chat one yourself, or leave a comment pointing in the right direction.

Also, unfortunately only one of us can be the Orioles. And I doubt this would happen, but if 30 of us want to play, two people would have to be the Red Sox or Yankees (although at that point we could just split the leagues).

EDIT: Okay, so I just did what I probably should have done before i even wrote this, and that's look at the help menu. This is what it says (credit to Sports Mogul Inc.):

RUNNING A LEAGUE

OVERVIEW
"Running a Baseball Mogul League" refers to the process of playing a game of Baseball Mogul on your computer while other people (usually from all over the Internet) control other teams in your Baseball Mogul Universe. It generally works like this:

Players send your their "orders" (such as lineup changes, or trades they have made)
You enter these orders into Baseball Mogul
You simulate a certain number of days
You e-mail the new Baseball Mogul ".mog" file to the other team owners
(Optional) You maintain a web site with updated standings, transactions and the like

So everyone would download Baseball Mogul 2006 themselves and we'd have to designate a League Commissioner. Everyone looks at the file and makes their decisions. They email the decisions to the league Commissioner, who then enters the moves. The Commissioner then emails the new file out to everyone, and repeat. To prevent cheating, the help guide also said that the Commissioner can make a password, but I trust you guys enough not to cheat.

So, yeah, it would be a bit of a pain in the ass, and the Commissioner would have to put a bit of time into this (not sure how much).

If you're interested, leave a comment. Also, if you already know how to make a league, feel free to make a Camden Chat one yourself, or leave a comment pointing in the right direction.

EDIT: Okay, so I just did what I probably should have done before i even wrote this, and that's look at the help menu. This is what it says (credit to Sports Mogul Inc.):

RUNNING A LEAGUE

Players send your their "orders" (such as lineup changes, or trades they have made)
You enter these orders into Baseball Mogul
You simulate a certain number of days
You e-mail the new Baseball Mogul ".mog" file to the other team owners
(Optional) You maintain a web site with updated standings, transactions and the like

So, yeah, it would be a bit of a pain in the ass, and the Commissioner would have to put a bit of time into this (not sure how much).

Fantasy hockey?

ahoque24 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:52:59 -0000

I know the season has already started, but is there any interest in a Camden Chat fantasy hockey league? There's a football league, so we can go outside of baseball. I know there are some hockey fans around here, but as far as I know, there isn't a hockey league. I'm thinking a head-to-head points scoring system.

Sorry about making such a short Fanpost, I couldn't think of a better way that would draw everyone that might be interested.

Fangraphs on Matusz's Recent Success

ahoque24 — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:33:08 -0000

Fangraphs on Matusz's Recent Success

After seeing Fangraphs and Rotographs post articles on the struggles of several young Orioles, seeing this sure put a smile on my face.

Analyzing the Orioles' Troubles

ahoque24 — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:49:34 -0000

Analyzing the Orioles' Troubles

Hardball Times takes an interesting (and depressing) look at the problems plaguing the Orioles and, to some extent, how to solve them.

Matt Wieters' Innings

ahoque24 — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:19:53 -0000

This is my first Fanpost, so please don't eat me alive.

My favorite thing to watch about the Orioles right now (there aren't too many to begin with) is watching the young players. We all know Matt Wieters isn't hitting too well, but I still enjoy seeing him at the plate, just knowing that he's a crucial part of this team's future. But I thought I noticed something: he's been playing a lot. The first time I noticed this was the first Sunday in the Orioles season, when Trembley still started him in a day game following a night game. But I wasn't sure if it was just me or if Wieters really was playing a lot for a catcher. Then Fangraphs answered that.

Original article here.

Fangraphs has a short paragraph on Wieters there, saying that it's a concern, but I wanted to say more for Orioles fans, as all this makes me wonder: Why exactly is Matt Wieters playing so much?

It's common knowledge that of all the position players, catchers need the most rest. Everybody knows how much wear the position has on a player's body. A catchers' need for rest is even higher when he's young, and even higher when he's tall. Wieters fits both categories. It's important that Wieters gets his at-bats, but the Orioles can't afford putting him behind the plate so much. As much as we all want to win, this year was never expected to be a competitive one for Baltimore. The Orioles need to find a balance between getting Wieters both the experience and rest he needs.

Look at those players again. As Fangraphs notes, Wieters is the youngest. The next youngest is Russell Martin. A few years ago Martin was one of the better hitting catchers in the Majors. The Dodgers overplayed him, and though we can't be sure this is the reason why, Martin has lost his power and is now in the lower half of catchers in terms of batting.

Wieters still hasn't developed into the hitter analysts think he's capable of becoming. He's not yet at the point Martin was at. Yes, playing him this much might not prevent him from becoming a good player. But playing him so much surely won't do any good for his career. It could shorten his career, or at least the time when he's in his prime. As I've said, the Orioles need to be more careful considering his size.

Playing Wieters so much would make more sense if the Orioles were contenders. But they aren't. Most expert opinions have predicted 2011 as the year the Birds are competitive again. That shows something, though: the Orioles could and should be contenders again. And Wieters is going to be a big part of that. So consider how much the Orioles have invested in Matt Wieters, and then consider the fact that right now the Orioles are a last place team with a manager almost surely on his way out. If you're like me, you might end up asking yourself this: What the hell is Dave Trembley doing?

This is my first Fanpost, so please don't eat me alive.

Original article here.

Fangraphs has a short paragraph on Wieters there, saying that it's a concern, but I wanted to say more for Orioles fans, as all this makes me wonder: Why exactly is Matt Wieters playing so much?