Neat stuff sim thread PEBA 2023 Season 17

[Denny]

If I didn't know better I'd suspect Ron might be layering in a smidge of sarcasm there...

[Duane]

Ky avoids being swept with a pair of 7 - 6 victories .... back to Florida for last 2 games.

We do have a key injury, and pray it wont affect us.

[Borealis]

It's (kinda) exciting to see a pair of Game 6's - very cool for the T-breds to come back against the F-heads. As for Aurora, this is what we feared after the Game 1 Burris meltdown - coming home needing two wins and not one.

Provost was at his absolute best, saving Aurora's bacon in Game 5, giving up 2 hits - to the first two hitters of the game, then pitching a perfect game the rest of the way! Now 'Tugboat' takes the mound in Game 6, so we do feel a tinge of hope and confidence, knowing his postseason record is one of the best. We can only pray for and over a Game 7 - Romano has been at times the most dominant pitcher, then he's had his moments of Not So Neatness. At least we'd be at home.

On a technical aside: Teddy Loetzch was set as the starting 2B in both line-ups, listed as such on the depth charts - and no 7-day lineups were listed, and yet Juan Toro started both games 4 & 5... WTF? We'll take Toro's fine Game 5 performance, but...

Nervously awaiting tomorrow's outcomes!!

[Simon]

Reverse sweep by Aurora. Damn i would be pissed

Oh it was 3-1 for Stagnats, not 3-0. Still i would be pissed

[Duane]

Congrats to the 'Feather-headed Monster' of the IL, Florida, for representing the IL again.

Ky could not overcome

[Borealis]

Oh... My... Goodness... In a series of Neat and Not So Neat that I saw coming, didn't see coming, and then...

Reverse sweep by Aurora. Damn i would be pissed
Oh it was 3-1 for Sandgnats, not 3-0. Still i would be pissed

Yeah... I had the exact same thoughts as Game 7 played out - Brian has to be tearing his hair out!

So close, yet again, for the 'Gnats - and a huge congrats to Brian for an awesome season - again, and a helluva series. This is why the fight for home field is so uber important. If Games 6 & 7 were on the road, Aurora loses - no question in my mind.

Of course, we almost don't get out of Game 6 alive. 'Tugboat' and Davey Jones duel for 6-shut out innings, only to see Henry Ellacot (who would have been drafted by Aurora in the 2011 draft if Yuma hadn't snagged him 4 spots earlier - thus Aurora took Bobby Watson) hit a 2-out, 2-2 pitch for a 2-run double and the 2-0 lead. But Aurora storms right back - in an unexpected manner: rookie infielder Teddy Loetzsch (hitting .371 in the playoffs - spring training will be interesting!) doubled home 2 to tie and then C Rusty Butler - hitting .125 for the postseason, but his hits all seemed to be big ones, hit a 2-run HR to up the lead to 4-2. Burris, whose blown save in Game 1 put Aurora behind the 8 Ball in this game, tried to cough up the series - giving up back-to-back doubles with 1-out in the 9th, but he righted himself for the save and send the series to Game 7.

OMG... Drama out of the shoot, as Eduardo Romano - who had an excellent season, but was shelled in Game 3, was likewise in Game 7 - it was 2-0 'Gnats after two batters (Jarrod Ricks 2-run homer) and 5-0 (Wilson Munoz 3-run HR) after his 3 inning stint was over. With 'Yogi' on the mound, things seemed glum - Until Mike Britt's TOWERING HR in the bottom of the 3rd made it 5-3, and later in the inning the Borealis tied it at 5 - I was feeling a bit like Simon's above post. It kinda got ugly from there on as 'Yogi' would give up 7 runs and the 'Stork' would throw 3 scoreless in relief of Romano and then ditto Rivera to close the game out. 20 hits for the Borealis - three HRs (including Pope and Ferringo of all people); Loetzsch, Ferringo and Giles all had 4 hits each.

So it's Aurora v. F-heads III. Florida famously took the 2011 series 4-3, coming back from a 3-2 deficit to take the final two at NLP, then 11 years later, Aurora took the 2021 series 4-2 - this will be the rubber match of sorts, I suppose. I miss Kevin for this third round of what was our personal Bay Area Rivalry.

The question on the minds of Aurora brass: Who to start in Game 1? It's 'Sawmill's turn - and his home split is ridiculously better than his road, which would have Provost and 'Tugboat' pitch games 2 & 3 - then lined up for 6 & 7, if needed. This would allow 'Tugboat' to throw on regular rest. Otherwise it's 'Sawmill' and the suddenly struggling Romano in games 3 & 4 & 7 ('Sawmill' pitched well v. Florida in 2021 - but that was two years ago). The lean is towards the former option, which may have 'Tugboat' on the mound for a PEC clincher for the third straight season.

[KenH]

Wow. This is about to get exciting.

Florida will be missing Alfredo Hinojosa for the entire series and some of our bats have been non-existent in the playoffs thus far but we've managed an 8-2 record in the playoffs to this point which is good. Going into the championship, we'll be looking toward our "big three" in the rotation to bring home the bacon.

Home field belongs to Aurora this year which kind of sucks but what can you do? We need to at least split in Aurora to have much of a chance here. Luckily we managed to get through Kentucky in six instead of seven which gives us a number of options in terms of how we set up the rotation. I'm leaning towards York for games 1, 4, and 7 but Ornelas has been pretty great in the playoffs up to this point and is ready to go, so I don't think I can manage to screw this up TOO bad up to this point. While Takeda has been the best starter in the playoffs for us up to this point, I'm a little relieved he'll only get two games in the championship. He's a fly ball pitcher which probably wouldn't play too well at high altitude (I'm guessing Aurora's high altitude?)

I am rocking a large bullpen right now which should allow me to program in some favorable single batter matchups that I'll try to take advantage of.

On the hitting front, I've had some really inspired offensive production from a number of players that I wouldn't expect. Long term AAA player Pablo Rodriguez has come on and has been very effective as of late with a number of important bombs in key spots that have been amazing. Lorenzo Amador has earned his contract this post season after a passable but not great regular season. He's hitting right at .400. Jorge Martinez has been the other surprise. After a ho-hum regular aseason, the guy has the highest OPS on the team and has an OPS+ THREE times higher than super star Danny Burton.

Speaking of Danny Burton -- y'know... the man with better ratings than real-life Mike Trout -- he's been pretty dismal thus far but did have a good game six against Kentucky. We're hoping that he can use that to get back into form just in time for the championship series.

There's more. Always more to write about here. I'm very excited to be in this spot in my first managerial campaign. I can't wait to speak with Reg about the series in episode 2 of the podcast! (shameless plugs!)

[Evas]

13 ballots submitted for the post season awards so far. Not a great showing considering we have 32 franchises.

Are we really down to a 40% participation rate? Not good.

[Reg]

I know I haven't submitted yet, but will.

[Leones]

Are we really down to a 40% participation rate? Not good.

Come on guys, vote! :)

[John]

For the record, I always cast my ballot during the sim cycle immediately following the end of the PEC.

[Borealis]

Seems to me Aurora and Florida played this song two seasons ago in the PEC - close, tight games...

- 'Sawmill' saw mostly tricks on Halloween, as he gave up 9 H and 5 R, and although Aurora would get 3 off Ornelas (who was a bit too pricy for Aurora - and hence they signed Game 4 starter Eduardo Romano instead), the Borealis just couldn't crack through. Thus, for the third straight playoff series, Aurora loses the opener at home.

- 'Moon Dog' and 'Train Rollin' had their nights cut short in Game 2 by a 69 minute rain delay - and on a 40 degree night, no less... All the scoring came before the rain as Aurora hit York up for a pair of unearned runs - more than enough for the Aurora Ace and the 'pen - although Burris went through his Houdini act - again, giving up a pair of singles (runner to third) to open the 9th, only to then strike out the side to end the game, as the GM's heart was stuck in his throat as the possibility of dropping the first two at home looked a real possibility (and picking the scab of losing Games 6 & 7 at NLP in the 2011 PEC - to Florida... Grrrrr Endo, rhymes with Oquendo...)... Medina hit a solo shot off Provost, but the game would end 2-1, evening the series.

- What you need to know about Game 3: It went 16 innings and both team used 6 relievers - nothing like toasting the 'pen at the start of a big three game series (as it were). 'Tugboat' left with the lead, 'Stork' gave it up. Florida gave Aurora the lead in the 13th with a pair of errors up the middle and an RBI single by Medrano, but Rivera - who pitched 3.2 innings in relief, let the tying run score in the B13. In the 16th Pope singled, moved up on a WP and scored on a Carlisle single to give Aurora a 6-5 win.

Heading to Game 4, we feel pretty good knowing we have the lead and worst case scenario we go back to The Front Range with Provost in Game 6 and (potentially) 'Tugboat' in Game 7 - which is why we set the rotation up with 'Sawmill' opening the series. You hate to not go with your top guys to start with - and Provost could have, but that had Smith pitching on short rest. A little bit of a gamble, but we had faith in splitting the first four games - mission accomplished there - though a Game 4 would be nice...

So Romano and 'Sawmill' will pitch Games 4 & 5 in Jacksonville, and we'll see what we get. Neither were as solid on the road as they were at home, and Romano was battered by Crystal Lake, so maybe he's due for a turn-around! Pope, Giles and Hale have been Aurora's top hitters thus far - each with 5 hits. On the other side of that coin, Loetzsch, Butler and Medrano have 1 combined hit - ouch!! Hard to say if a change is needed there, or if you just go with what got you there? All I know is John Gray is looking at the manager and saying, 'Put me in coach' each time Burris goes out there...

[Simon]

Go Dixie!

[KenH]

Congrats to Aurora winning in five. Four one run games decide this thing.

[Simon]

oh man, it could go either way.

congrats to Aurora