2006 Atlanta Braves Replay Assn

[motnahp]

Carlos Delgado doubled home Jose Reyes with one out in the bottom of the 9th for the game's only run in a 1-0 Mets' win over the Braves. John Smoltz pitched brilliantly, but walked Reyes to start the 9th. One out later, Delgado laced a double in the gap and the game was over.

THUR OCT 19 - NLCS GAME 1

ATL_____0___7___0
NYM_____1___4___1
NY Mets lead series 1-0.

ALCS GAME 1

CLE_____1___6___0
NYY_____3___5___0
NY Yankees lead series 1-0.

[motnahp]

Brian McCann snapped a 3-3 tie with one out in the top of the 9th with a solo homer off Roberto Hernandez. Bob Wickman got the Mets 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th to earn the save.

New York opened the scoring on Paul Lo Duca's RBI double in the 2nd inning. The game stayed 1-0 Mets until the top of the 6th. Chipper Jones hit a solo homer to tie the game at 1-1. Later in the inning, Matt Diaz cleared the wall with a 2-run homer and the Braves led 3-1.

The Mets responded in their half of the 6th, however. With 2 outs, Carlos Beltran singled and Shawn Green tied the game at 3-3 with a 2-run homer. McCann's shot in the 9th tied the series at 1-1 as the teams head to Atlanta for game 3.

FRI OCT 20 - NLCS GAME 2

ATL_____4___10___0
NYM_____3___9___0
Series tied 1-1.

ALCS GAME 2

CLE_____2___6___0
NYY_____0___5___0
Series tied 1-1.

Victor Martinez snapped a scoreless tie with a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th off Yankee starter Mike Mussina. With the ALCS tied at a game apiece, the series shifts to Cleveland on Sunday for game three.

[motnahp]

Cliff Floyd's pinch-hit homer off Ken Ray in the top of the 11th was the game-winner for the Mets, as they took a 2-1 series lead against the Braves with a 3-2 win in game three. Atlanta took a 2-0 lead into the 8th inning. The lead was erased on Jose Valentin's 2-run homer off Chad Paronto. Atlanta's runs came on an Edgar Renteria double in the 6th and a Brian McCann sacrifice fly in the 7th.

After returning from the DL and pitching brilliantly in his late-September start, John Thomson has struggled in both of his postseason starts. Although he allowed no runs in game three, he walked 6 in 4 1/3 innings.

SUN OCT 22 - NLCS GAME 3

NYM_____3___8___1 (11 innings)
ATL_____2___9___0
NY Mets lead series 2-1.

ALCS GAME 3

NYY_____7___16___0 (11 innings)
CLE_____8___14___0
Cleveland leads series 2-1.

The Indians led this game 4-2 after 7 innings. The Yankees scored 4 in the 8th to take a 6-4 lead. Cleveland responded with 3 of their own in the 8th to go up 7-6. New York then tied the score in the top of the 9th. Cleveland won the game on a Jason Michaels single in the bottom of the 11th.

[motnahp]

The Braves have their proverbial backs up against the wall following a 5-0 loss to the Mets in game 4. Darren Oliver, Guillermo Mota and Roberto Hernandez shut down the Braves, allowing only 5 hits. They walked none and struck out 7. The game was scoreless into the 7th inning. Jose Reyes led off the 7th with a triple. With one out, Carlos Delgado brought Reyes home with a sacrifice fly. Carlos Beltran then homered to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

New York increased their lead with 3 runs in the top of the 9th off Braves' reliever Wayne Franklin. In the 9th, Beltran homered again, this time a 2-run shot.

MON OCT 23 - NLCS GAME 4

NYM_____5___13___0
ATL_____0____5___1
NY Mets lead the series 3-1.

ALCS GAME 4

NYY_____1___8___1
CLE_____0___6___0
Series tied 2-2.

Jason Giambi's 1st inning RBI double provided the game's only run. Yankee pitchers
*Cory Lidle, Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera combined to strike out 11 Indians. The Yankees turned 4 double plays in the game.

*Lidle died tragically in a plane crash on October 11, 2006. In real MLB, the Yankees had already been eliminated from postseason play. Lidle's last appearance in an MLB game was on October 7, 2006. It is assumed that Lidle would not have been flying if the Yankees were still involved in the playoffs, hence the decision to place him on the active roster for this series.

[motnahp]

The New York Mets advanced to the World Series, defeating the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 1 in the NLCS. Other than turn off the PC, there was nothing manager motnahp could do to save this one. I'll let the picture tell the story:

[motnahp]

TUE OCT 24 - ALCS GAME 5

NYY_____3__10___0
CLE_____0___5___0
NY Yankees lead series 3-2.

Randy Johnson struck out 14 batters and walked none in 8 innings. Mariano Rivera picked up the save in the 9th. The Yankees did all of their scoring in the first inning. Alex Rodriguez drove in one run with a double. The next batter, Jason Giambi, cracked a 2-run homer.

The teams head back to the Bronx, where the Yankees will try to join the Mets in the World Series.

[motnahp]

THUR OCT 26 - ALCS GAME 6

CLE_____2___6___0
NYY_____1___6___1
Series tied 3-3.


Shin-soo Choo's double in the 8th inning broke a 1-1 tie and Cliff Lee outdueled Mike Mussina, forcing a 7th game.

[motnahp]

Looks like a Subway Series, as the Yankees shut out the Indians 3-0 in game 7. Wang, Wright, and Rivera combined to limit the Tribe to only 4 hits.

FRI OCT 27 - ALCS GAME 7

CLE_____0___4___1
NYY_____3___7___1
NY Yankees win series 4-3.

In the first game of the World Series, it will be Randy Johnson (18-6, 3.17) for the Yankees against Tom Glavine (17-8, 2.64). Both of these "40-somethings" are 2-0 in the postseason.

[motnahp]

WED NOV 1 - WORLD SERIES GAME 1

NYY_____3___10___0
NYM_____2_ __7___0
NYY lead the series 1-0.

The Mets led early, 2-0. In the bottom of the 1st, Jose Reyes walked, stole 2nd and 3rd, then scored on a Carlos Beltran sac-fly. The Mets increased their lead to 2-0 ona sac-fly by David Wright in the 3rd.

The Yankees finally got to Tom Glavine in the 6th. Alex Rodriguez hit a solo homer. Hideki Matsui had a pinch-hit RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. Jorge Posada drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Aaron Heilman to give the Yankees the lead.

In game two, it will be Mike Mussina (13-13, 2.82) and Steve Trachsel (13-4, 2.72) taking the mound.

[motnahp]

THUR NOV 2 - WORLD SERIES GAME 2

NYY_____0___4___0
NYM_____3___8___0
Series tied 1-1.

Steve Trachsel, Roberto Hernandez and Billy Wagner combined on the shutout. David Wright hit a 2-run homer in the 5th and Carlos Beltran added a solo shot in the 8th to account for the game's only scoring.

The teams hop over to the Bronx for game three. The Mets send lefty Oliver Perez (8-8, 4.09) to the mound. The Yankees counter with Chien-Ming Wang (17-8, 2.78)

[motnahp]

SAT NOV 4 - WORLD SERIES GAME 3

NYM_____6___10___0
NYY_____1____9___0
NY Mets lead series 2-1.

The Mets continued to use the long ball. In the top of the 3rd, designated hitter Julio Franco hit a 2-run homer. Later in the same inning, Carlos Delgado matched Franco's feat, giving the Mets an early 4-0 lead.

Melky Cabrera knocked in the only Yankee run with a 6th-inning double. The Mets quickly answered back with a Julio Franco RBI double in the 7th, making the score 5-1. The Mets closed out the scoring in the 8th, as Carlos Beltran and Shawn Green connected for back-to-back doubles.

Game 4 starters: Darren Oliver (8-7, 4.51) for the Mets. Cory Lidle (13-10, 3.65) for the Yankees.

[motnahp]

SUN NOV 5 - WORLD SERIES GAME 4

NYM_____2___8___0
NYY_____1___5___0
NY Mets lead series 3-1.

The Mets got 8 great innings from Darren Oliver and took a commanding lead in the series, 3-1, with their 2-1 win over the Yankees. Oliver allowed 5 hits, struck out 4, and walked no one.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the 5th, as Melky Cabrera singled in Alex Rodriguez, who had doubled. The Mets score both of their runs in the 7th, on an Endy Chavez RBI single and a Paul Lo Duca RBI groundout.

The Mets will try to close things out in game 5. Tom Glavine takes the mound against the Yankees' Randy Johnson.

[motnahp]

MON NOV 6 - WORLD SERIES GAME 5

NYM_____10___14___0
NYY______0____1___1
NY Mets win series 4-1.

Tom Glavine retired the first 23 Yankees and took a no-hitter into the 9th inning as the Mets crushed the Yankees 10-0 and won the World Series. With 2 outs in the Yankee 8th inning, Glavine walked pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui. He then walked Melky Cabrera before retiring Bobby Abreu to end the inning. In the 9th, lead-off batter Johnny Damon doubled to left field to break up the no-hit bid. Glavine finished with a one-hitter. He struck out 6 and walked 3.

The Mets took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd on Shawn Green's double. In the 3rd, a Johnny Damon error and a Jose Valentin sac-fly made the score 4-0. The Mets broke things open in the 5th. David Wright drove home 2 runs with a double. Carlos Delgado and Julio Franco added RBI singles, and Jose Reyes chipped in with a sac-fly. The Mets led 9-0 after 4 1/2 innings. Endy Chavez added an RBI single in the 9th to make the score 10-0.

[motnahp]

Association awards:

AL MVP: Jason Giambi, NY Yankees. He batted .295 with 57 HR and 143 RBI. his home run and RBI totals led all of baseball.

AL Cy Young: Johan Santana, Minnesota. He was 15-6 with a 1.75 ERA. He ledf the AL in ERA and all of baseball with 285 strikeouts.

NL MVP: Barry Bonds, San Francisco. He led all of baseball in AVG at .343. He also led the NL in homers with 41. He fell just short of a triple crown. His 123 RBIs were tied for 3rd with Chase Utley. Pat Bat Burrell had 124 and Cincinnati's Adam Dunn had 126.

NL Cy Young: John Smoltz, Atlanta. The 39-year-old ace was 17-11, with a 2.15 ERA. He finished second to Pedro Martinez in ERA, while leading the NL in wins, innings pitched strikeouts, complete games, and shutouts.

[motnahp]

Comparison: Real 2006 Atlanta Braves stats vs my PS 2006 Atlanta Braves stats.

#1 of 3

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#2 of 3

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#3 of 3

[motnahp]

PS season analysis:

It's obvious that the Braves were lacking in starting pitchers. Mike Hampton missed the whole season. John Thomson and Horacio Ramirez each missed more than half the season. Other than Smoltz and Hudson, it was "throw 'em out there and hope for the best".

One thing I didn't have to deal with was an ineffective Chris Reitsma. In real MLB, before going down for the season on July 2, he blew several saves and was generally awful (hence his 8.68 ERA). He pitched great for my PS assn before he went down. The 2006 real MLB bullpen (especially the lack of closer pre-Wickman) was blamed as the main reason that the Braves' run of division titles came to an end. My experience was somewhat different, Reitsma did well. Ken Ray pitched well when Reitsma went down. About the time Ray started to falter, the Braves added Bob Wickman and the transition was smooth.


Overall, I was greatly pleased with the pen. Due to the lack of dependable starting pitching, I had to keep a good eye on the recovery of Ray, McBride, Paronto, and Villarreal. Tyler Yates was in the mix most of the season, until I made the decision to try him in the rotation. I was forever bringing these guys in when they were "Worn Out". There were many occasions where I had to use someone like Peter Moylan, just knowing he would give up 3-4 runs. Many times, it was just a trade-off. Most of the time, I judged it worth the risk whenever a starter was knocked out early and I had 5-6 innings to fill. Many 4-run deficits became 7 or 8-run deficits in a hurry when Moylan, Jason Shiell, Joey Devine, or Kyle Davies took the mound in relief.

Offensively, team speed was sorely lacking. Other than Giles and Renteria, just about everyone else in the everyday lineup played station-to-station baseball. Giles had a SP rating of 52 and Renteria was 45. For almost the entire season, the only speed threat on the bench was Pete Orr. I always had to keep him available for a late-inning pinch-running appearance, if needed. Consequently, he didn't get but about half his real-life at-bats as he sat waiting.

My Braves led the league in caught stealing. Chipper Jones stole zero bases and was caught at least 10 times. You would think that manager motnahp would've figured this out after he was 0-for-5.

In real MLB, Brian McCann belted 24 homers. It took him forever to show ANY power, and only ended up with 9. He was ice cold in April into May. Although he was probably my best hitter the last 6 weeks, he had dug himself such a big hole, he couldn't approach his real-life .333, ending up at .285. He batted 7th most of the year, except for the last month or so. I put Diaz 7th and McCann 8th.


The first two months of the season, the left-field platoon of Langerhans and Diaz was only half working. Langerhans was over .300 and Diaz was below .200. By mid-season, Diaz was hitting everybody, lefties and righties. He ended up in the lineup most every day down the stretch. He's another batter whose slow start hurt his overall stats. He ended up at .247. I imagine he was over .300 after the All-Star Break. Langerhans spiraled downward and rarely started after the break. He was usually my 1st choice for a pinch-hitter off the bench. He kept threatening to fall below .200, but held on to finish at .209. He never did hit me a homer.

Andruw Jones (41 HR in real-life) hit 27 homers and drove in 110, but it seemed like his hits weren't of the "clutch" variety. His AVG was great, at .292, but there just seemed to be something missing. Maybe I'm one of the many fans who were blown away by his World Series debut in 1996 and expected him to hit 50 homers and drive in 150 every year, while catching everything within sight. He'll be missed when he's gone next year. He batted clean-up most of the year for me.

Chipper Jones started horribly and was injured often. I even benched him for a couple games, due to his poor AVG and lack of power. When he came back after his first injury, he was pretty much on fire the rest of the season, with game-changing hits about once a week. Despite three DL stints and the benching, he still swatted 24 homers and drove in 101.

Jeff Francoeur played in every game, so his stats compare favorably to his real-life stats. I'm still not sure where I should have batted him in the order. Once in a while, I hit him 3rd with Chipper was injured, but that didn't seem to work well. His usual spot for me was 6th.

Two guys were steady ALL year: Marcus Giles and Adam LaRoche. Giles stayed on the leader board for AVG and doubles the entire year. He batted lead-off almost the whole season for me. LaRoche was platooned with Brian Jordan the first month or so, but eventually hit so well, I was "forced" to play him every day. Jordan missed most of the season with injury, so I had little choice. LaRoche responded with 39 homers and 104 RBI. He was over .300 most of the season, and finished at .298. He usually batted 5th.

Shortstop Edgar Renteria started slowly at the plate. I recall him hitting less than .250 at the break. He had a good 2nd half, ending up at a respectable .276. His power numbers were a little down, with only 8 homers. He batted 2nd most of the season. When he was struggling early, I occasionally benched him or batted him 8th. He was a threat on the bases and was a key player late in the year, giving Chipper good RBI chances.

The bench was below par. Rookie Scott Thorman, expected to be a power threat off the bench, had exactly one extra-base hit on the season (a double), and "hit" .118. Brian Jordan was killing left-handers off the bench until he got injured and missed most of the season. Todd Pratt was a good defensive catcher, but when he was in the lineup it was almost like having two pitchers in the batting order (auto outs). He homered only once and hit .153. As mentioned earlier, Pete Orr spent most of the season stretching and waiting to pinch-run. He did win a couple games for me with his speed. Until he was traded, Wilson Betemit was a switch-hitting threat. Betemit actually hit over .300 early, while filling in for Chipper. He tailed off to a .216 AVG.

Were I in a GM mode, I would have set the following priorities for the 2007 Braves:

1) One starting pitcher. A good number 3 (decent ERA and control) or a number 2 added to Smoltz and Hudson would be needed.

2) Outfielder with speed. Almost the whole season, there was only one outfielder on the bench (either Diaz or Langerhans, the other was starting in LF). Manager motnahp felt like he didn't have all the tools in the toolkit. This guy would need to be someone capable of 20 SB if he started regularly. He could be a guy with some power, but I would place more value on his speed. He would need to be someone who could get on base in the late innings, either as a pinch-runner or pinch-hitter.

3) Any living, breathing, left-handed relief pitcher. Remlinger was around for a couple months before being let go. McBride couldn't pitch EVERY day! In September, the Braves called up Wayne Franklin. It sure felt good to have that other lefty arm in the pen, but he would not be the long-term answer.

I think Chuck James would make a more effective reliever than a starter. A soft-tosser, he does not have the control of, say, a Jamie Moyer. As a starter, he seemed to last only 4-6 innings and walks would inevitably get him into trouble and/or get his pitch count up too high. If James is used in the rotation, obtaining another left arm for the pen is essential. I had limited faith in James' ability, so I left him off the postseason roster.

[motnahp]

This association gave me the managing bug. Next up is a 1975 Oakland A's replay. The premise of the association will be to undo what the combination of Charlie Finley & Bowie Kuhn did to the Oakland A's.[:(]

Before the 1975 season, Charlie Finley was accused by Catfish Hunter of violating his contract. There was some sort of clause about deferred money, an interest-free loan, or something of that nature. Finley dragged his heels about depositing the money, missed the deadline to make the deposit, and was found to have violated Hunter's contract.

I was young at the time and my memory is fading, but I recall Kuhn "setting Hunter free" and making Catfish effectively a free agent. This was one year before actual free agency (Messersmith & McNally). Kuhn had long feuded with Finley. I truly believe Kuhn, who was no baseball man, feared losing his job to Finley or Bill Veeck, one of those radical owners who weren't members of the country club / silver spoon crowd that Kuhn favored. Kuhn took this opportunity to stab Finley where it hurt most. The A's, three-time defending World Series champs, lost their best pitcher in his prime. Hunter had won 20 + games 4 straight seasons, topping it with 25 wins in 1974.

I feel certain that Kuhn could have handled the situation by fining, suspending, or threatening to fine or suspend Finley. He may have done so, but I doubt it. More than likely, lawyer Kuhn had contacts in the court system and Finley was outgunned. Oakland lost Hunter and received nothing in return except a wry smile from Kuhn, I'm sure.

Hunter signed with the NY Yankees for 1975. The A's won their 5th straight AL West title in 1975, but were swept by Boston in the ALCS. Sorry, Boston fans, but Oakland belonged in the 1975 World Series against Cincinnati. Although Carbo's and Fisk's home runs in Game 6 of the Series are two of my fondest sports memories, they never should have happened. Except for Catfish, most of the 3-time champs were on the '75 roster. Second baseman Dick Green retired, but all the other key players were on board. Let's see how things shake out by putting Catfish Hunter on the 1975 A's. Sorry, also, Yankee fans. You didn't win anyway, so you won't miss him too much!