Season 25 Preview-NL East

NL East
In season 24, Jacksonville worked their way back to the top of this division. It was the 16th time that they've won the division crown and 17th post season trip. After a couple of down seasons that seen them win 82 games and 70 games, the team jumped up to 92 victories last season and led second place Cincinnati by 11 games. The Firestorm finished the season at .500 and missed out on the playoffs. They improved their win total by 6 games, but in season 23 they won the division title with 75 victories. Philadelphia finished third and seen their win total drop for a third straight season. Since winning the division title back in season 20, this team has missed the playoffs. The 67 victories they had last season were a worst in franchise history. Wichita got a new owner last season and they were clearly a rebuilding team. They have finished 4th in the division in 7 of the past 8 seasons. The 57 wins for them were an all time franchise low.


Jacksonville Juice
Owner- greygoose123
Season 24 record- 92-70(NL East Champ)
Last 5 seasons- 408-402

Jacksonville found themselves back on top of the division once again last season. This is a team that is in win now mode. They have the budget set up to afford what they need to contend. While they have some good youth on the team, most of the better talent has crossed age 30. This team will need to replace those guys soon, but they should be able to help the team win now.

This team struggled a bit offensively last season. They batted a .257, with an obp of .327 and slugging pct of .411. Those were both better than the league average though. They also hit 184 homers and stole 140 bases while scoring 777 runs. While some numbers look like they struggled, the runs show otherwise. They were 3rd in the league in the stat that matters most. This team has 2 table setters with Ramiro Contreras and Rich Pierce, who both stole over 40 bases and batted over .280 with 100 + runs. Young slugger, Hipolito Arredondo was the beneficiary of that as he drove home 129 runs to go with his 37 homers. Chris Young may be this teams best overall hitter though as he came over from Nashville last season and went on to hit .325 in 87 games for the Juice. This offense isn't great, but they do have some really good talent that helps put them in the upper half of the league.

Defensively this team is just not very good. They had a .980 fielding pct and 45 + plays to go with 79 - plays last season. Those just aren't good numbers. Chris Young is the shortstop, but he lacks even decent range and arm strength to go with the position. This team doesn't look to have many options either. Jacksonville will likely finish near the bottom defensively again this season.

They did get some solid pitching last season. They ended with a 3.85 ERA and an opponent .256 average. Rick Owens led the staff with a 17-9 record and 2.91 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP. The rest of the rotation is pretty solid, but Owens is a step above the rest of them. The bullpen also will feature some pretty solid arms and are led by 37 year old vet Omar Gabriel. In 61 games last season, he had a 4.36 ERA and WHIP of 1.21. Sherman Stevens is the closer and he saved 38 games in 44 tries with a 3.00 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. Andres Jacquez came over mid season and he pitched in 30 games with a 2.83 ERA and only allowed 1 of 13 inherited runners to score. This should be a pretty good pitching staff. The rotation after Owens isn't great, but the bullpen has enough help to bail them out.


Cincinnati Firestorm
Owner- jbburner
Season 24 record- 81-81
Last 5 seasons- 394-416

With an 89.6 million dollar payroll, the Firestorm look like they want to win now. The team has been really close to being an average team for the past 8 seasons and actually finished at .500 last season. I really like the signing of Lee Coveleski this off season. That should be a boost for them. The promotion of reliever Manuel Rodriguez is going to help as well.

The team was pretty average offensively last season. They hit .259 with a .322 obp, .416 slugging pct, 215 homers, and 756 runs. The offense was led by Fergie Hill who hit 50 homers, drove in 125 runs and batted a .288 with a .350 obp. Andres Andujar had a pretty good season as well with 31 homers, 99 rbi, .279 average and .348 obp. Rafael Unamuno hit 29 homers, with 76 RBI, and a .254 average and .337 obp. That was a down season for him and I expect him to rebound this season. The Firestorm have a solid offense, but I think they are just average and that's thanks to a hitters park.

Defensively, this team isn't very good. Stewart Lee is the teams best option at shortstop, but he's been a backup for them. While they have some solid gloves, the lack of a shortstop or centerfielder has a domino effect and forces players to play positions that are tougher than what they are suited for. This team will finish near the bottom again this season.

The pitching staff was near the bottom of the league last season. The addition of Coveleski brings much needed help to the top of the rotation. After him though, Timo Pan is just solid, but he'll eat up innings with 3 straight 200 + seasons. He went 11-10 last season with a 3.63 ERA. Paxton Weiland is solid and he went 5-2 with a 3.50 ERA after coming over from Salem last season. The bullpen is below average but I like Mitchell Hayes as he pitched in 58 games with a 4.86 ERA, but he only allowed 4 of his 38 inherited runners to score last season. The Firestorm pitching should be better this season, but they aren't very much better. This is still a below average squad.


Philadelphia Moneymakers
Owner- Phillies26
Season 24 record- 67-95
Last 5 seasons- 389-421

This team has been heading down for the past 3 seasons after reaching 87 wins back in season 21. They look like a team that has budgeted to win now though. I do like the additions in the off season and Raul Santiago and Fausto Gandarilla should help them. I would think the team would need more than that to make a difference over last season. If things go south this season then it may be time to go into rebuild mode.

Offense was a real weakness for this team last season. A .239 average and .299 obp are not very good. Their 568 runs were worst in the league as well. Gandarilla will add some much need hitting to this team. At 29 years old, he's a career .313 hitter with a .393 obp. Those numbers should give this team a boost for sure. Angel Martinez is a good contact hitter and he should improve over last seasons .250 average and .322 obp, both which were well below his career averages. Mariano Gonzales is a player that could do better than his 23 homers and .263 average and .321 obp. This offense should make it's way out of the basement of the NL this season, but they don't look like they'll even be an average offense still.

Defensively this team was slightly below average last season. They had a .983 fielding pct and 41 + plays and 39 - plays. Glenn Cole is the shorstop and he's got the range to get it done. Omar Cano plays a decent centerfield, but his range holds him back. Teddy McKnight is the secondbaseman and he is pretty solid as well. This defense looks pretty much the same as last season and that isn't a bad thing. They are at least close to average.

Pitching is where this team has a solid strength. With a 3.91 ERA and .255 opponent average this team was slightly above average. They did have 3.53 walks per 9 last season which was .52 worse than the league average. If they could get that down then they'd be dangerous. The rotation is led by Napoleon Hallman and he finished 6-13 with a 3.74 ERA and 1.24 WHIP last season. He's a much better pitcher than that and should bounce back. Matty Andujar went 11-12 with a 3.39 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. Glenn Hafner led the staff as he was 10-7 with a 2.87 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. Those are 3 good starters at the top of this rotation. Coming out of the bullpen is David Ortiz, and he saved 47 games in 51 tries with a 1.71 ERA and .95 WHIP. He's one of the best in the league. The addition of Santiago brings in a good setup man to go with him. This is an above average pitching staff and could lead this team back into the division race.


Wichita DwArf'y Mojados
Owner- jibe
Season 24 record- 57-105
Last 5 seasons- 349-461

Wichita is a team that is rebuilding and they have been for quite some time. Hopefully with a solid owner this team can start to get things turned around. They are still budgeted to rebuild this season and have the cash on hand to make a couple of nice IFA additions. The Mojados do have a really young team and should get better as these guys progress.

The Mojados were one of the worst offensive teams in the league last season. They hit .243 with a .300 obp and 151 homers to go with 584 runs. It was a dismal season for the bats. The offensive star was Monte Randolph as he hit .280 with a .333 obp and 25 homers with 66 RBI. Andrew Adams is a player that I'd expect more out of this season. He hit .261 with a .313 obp, 21 homers and 61 RBI last season. The offense still doesn't look very good this season. A few players should bounce back from bad seasons, but that won't be enough to bring this team up much.

The defense was pretty bad last season. They had a .980 fielding pct to go with 27 + plays and 119 - plays. The minus plays were made worse with Randolph playing firstbase, as he had 35 of them. The addition of Fritz Dydalewicz at least adds a really good glove to the team. He lacks range for shortstop, but he won't make many errors. Hank Jacquez is a solid centerfielder, but he lacks the range for that spot. This defense should be better than last season, but they are a below average defense.

The pitching was also among the worst in the league last season. They finished with a 4.73 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. The addition of Randy Sanders gives them a solid starter in the rotation. That's about it though. He's more suited for the back of the rotation and none of the other starters are really that. The bullpen is better than that though. Benito Pizzaro is a good young reliever and he had a 3.94 ERA in 50 games last season. Geraldo Molina should have been better than the 5.18 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 44 games. I could see him improving. This team is a ways off from having a good pitching staff. They will likely finish at the bottom this season.


Predictions
Jacksonville has been the team to beat in this division for a long time. Every time it looks like another team may step up, the Juice then turn around and come right back to the top. They have the most well rounded team in this division this season and I see no reason they shouldn't take the top spot for a 17th time. Cincinnati has been an average team for a while now and they look the part again this season. The offense has some stars, but the defense and pitching really hold them back. I could see this team winning 85 games or 75 games. They fall somewhere in that range. Philadelphia has the defense and pitching to be a solid team, but the offense is an area that needs to step up. I like the additions and think the offense will improve, but not enough to make them a contender. I do think they can improve from last season and should be close to a .500 team. Wichita is a team in rebuild mode and will continue that this season. I'd imagine they aren't too far off though and should be making improvements over the next few seasons.

1. Jacksonville
2. Philadelphia
3. Cincinnati
4. Wichita

Season 25 Preview-NL North

NL North
In season 24 the Fargo Wood Chippers ended an 8 season playoff drought by winning the division for the 15th time. They advanced to the LCS and lost to Houston 4 games to 2. With 94 wins they finished with the second best record in the NL and appear to be the team to beat in this division once again. Iowa City took another step back last season to make it 3 straight seasons that their win totals have gone south. It was also the teams first time being left out of the post season since season 19. With 86 victories they don't appear to be a team that is too far from still being a contender. Montreal took some steps forward last season as they improved their win total for a second consecutive season. They finished third but they were only 2 games behind Iowa City with 84 wins. Madison continued to rebuild and they'll head into their third season under the current ownership with a budget set up to add some young building blocks.

Fargo Wood Chippers
Owner- Starbuckdc(Pine Tar Hall of Fame)
Season 24 record- 94-68(NL North Champ)
Last 5 seasons- 386-424

Fargo has one of the youngest rosters in Pine Tar heading into the season. With 21 players under the age of 30, they are set up to contend for quite some time. In the off season they locked up a couple of those star youngster with contract extensions, Zip Sullivan, and Tony Caballero.

In season 24 as a team the hit .265 with a .330 obp. They had 254 homers with 143 steals and scored 797 runs. They had a really good mix of power and speed. This team is loaded with power though. The key players in this offense are Sullivan, Caballero, Houston Graves and J.A. Stanley. This is going to be a tough offense to stop. They should have a top 5 offense in the league.

Defensively this team was pretty solid last season. They had 65 + plays and 21 - plays. That is a pretty good ratio. The .985 fielding % wasn't bad, but I expect it to be higher this season. They feature some good gloves at each of the key defensive positions. Chun-Lim Li is a good shortstop and I think he can improve upon last season. Sullivan has a great glove for second base. Raymond Franco is a pretty good centerfielder as well. This is a pretty good defense.

The team finished with a 3.94 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with 1062 strike outs last season. Those are solid numbers, but if this team has a weakness, it's the pitching. Aurelio Ozuna, is a pretty good starter, but the talent falls off after him. The closer is Rickie Metcalfe and I do think he's a really good reliever to have as evidenced by his 44 saves in 48 tries last season. Davie Diaz is the teams best reliever though. He finished last season with a 2.93 ERA in 73.2 innings. This pitching staff has a few nice pieces, but they look like an average staff at best.


Iowa City Hawkeyes
Owner- tk21775
Season 24 record- 86-76
Last 5 seasons- 465-345

Iowa City is a team that I feel like under performed last season. This team has some really good players, and are built around a great pitching staff. I just think this team is too talented to miss out on the post season and ownership will be trying to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Offensively this team will always struggle to be among the best. They play in a tough offensive park and the franchise has put much more emphasis on pitching. They hit .246 with a .307 obp last season and hit 186 homers. Disappointing is that they stole just 97 bases and were caught 60 times. That isn't a very good ratio and cost the team some runs. The offensive star is Joakim Valbuena, who hit 33 homers and drove home 110 runs last season. Jose Alfonzo put up good power numbers (27 homers, 99 rbi), but he doesn't get on base enough. Octavio Armas is the only player on the team that can really get on base with his .377 obp. For a team that plays in a pitchers park, they should really have more players that can draw a walk, but they don't and they suffer for it on offense. I put them near the bottom of the league offensively.

The defense is good though. They made a smart move by paying Bert Biggio and bringing him back in the off season. He is a great shortstop and I'm shocked that he has not won a gold glove. He really makes this defense go, because they only have average players at all of the other spots. The key for them is that they don't have any real weakness at the other spots either.  This is an average defense overall though.

The pitching is the strength and they are among the better teams in Pine Tar. Sticky Farquhar had an off season last season, but he's still one of the best. Patsy Ainsworth, was an all star last season and he finished with a 17-7 record and 2.86 ERA. Dan Siebert is getting older, but he still has something left in the tank and he showed it last season with a 3.17 ERA in 20 starts. The relievers are the real strength for them though. Leading the way is Brendan Taylor, who pitched 139.1 innings and had a 1.09 WHIP and 2.52 ERA. He also had a 15-10 record with 20 saves in 28 tries. Dennis Coleman is pretty good as well and he had 114.2 inning pitched with a .97 WHIP and 3.06 ERA. Rondell Kirwan and Victor Waner are pretty good extra pieces for them and those guys would be top relievers on some other teams. This is a really good staff that is led by the bullpen.


Montreal Leaf Blowers
Owner- optistrat
Season 24 record- 84-78
Last 5 seasons- 362-448

Montreal is another young team in this division that looks to be on their way up the ranks. This is a team that set up their budget to make some moves in free agency, but weren't able to get anything done. With plenty of cap space and a solid system, this team could make some moves to improve themselves during the season.

This is an offense built around power and some guys that can hit for a decent average. With 235 homers and a .262 average and .315 obp, the team could use a bit of improvement. They have some speed, but with 106 steals and 68 caught stealing, I wouldn't call it a strength. This offense is centered around a rising young star in Alex Suzuki. He hit 51 homers and batted a .285 with 124 RBI and 112 runs last season. Ian Langston had a pretty nice season as well with 39 homers and 109 RBI to go with a .270 average. Those are 2 rising young stars that mix well with veterans Rickey Masterson and Nate Carter. This is a pretty good offense overall and should finish in the upper half of the league.

Montreal had a pretty good defense last season with a .986 fielding % and 72 + plays and only 18 - plays. Jim Marte is the shorstop and he has really good range and a great arm, but his glove just isn't up to par. Nate Carter played a great thirdbase last season and he's one of the best when put their. Alex Suzuki is a really good thirdbaseman or right fielder and can do either one seamlessly. Overall this defense is solid, but I just don't think they rank among the best.

The pitching staff is led by an aging but still reliable Bret O'Leary. He went 12-5 with a 3.30 ERA last season and reached 200 career victories. Benny Villano is a youngster that should improve upon his 12-11 record and 3.48 ERA this season. The bullpen features Tom Leonard and he had 25 saves in 27 tries last season to go with a 1.67 ERA. Mike Clinton is a pretty good setup man as he pitched 91.2 innings and had a 3.93 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. The pitching staff is solid and they have some really good key players. I think this should be an above average staff.


Madison Melons
Owner- reggie988
Season 24 record- 72-90
Last 5 seasons- 381-429

Madison is a team in rebuild mode, but they did finish with a record that showed improvement last season. Heading into a third season with this owner will hopefully give them some stability and allow them to continue to move back toward the top of the division. I do think they made 3 promotions in the off season that should have an immediate impact for the club. F.P. Gentry, Eugene Harvey, and Marty Pall will all make debuts this season and should all be players that could make a difference.

Offensively this team still has a dynamic player in Raymond Petrov. He hits for power(34 homers) and steals bases(38 SB). His .299 average and .377 obp to go with 123 runs scored make him a dangerous player. Benito Rodriguez should bounce back from a tough season, but he's another really good weapon for this team. Add the 3 rookies to these guys and this offense is going to be tough. Madison has a really good offense and should rank in the upper half of the league this season.

The fielding was solid last season. They had 60 + plays and just 26 - plays to go with a .983 fielding %. Petrov was the shortstop and he didn't help those numbers. He's better suited for third, right field or second. That is pretty much this whole team though. I just don't think this is a very good fielding team.

Pitching is the weakness that will hold this team back. The rotation is really weak and I think it will hold them back. They added Bill Crabtree, but he's a back of the rotation type guy. The bullpen is pretty solid though. I like Mitch Mota, who finished with a 2.31 ERA in 46.2 innings last season. I think Marco Russell should be better than what he has. Ricardo Johnson is a really good setup man and finished with a 1.09 WHIP and 3.49 ERA last season. If this team had a better rotation then this bullpen could put the staff into the upper half of the league, but the rotation really will drag them down.


Predictions
It's easy to pick Fargo, the team on top last season. They have the best offense in the division, a solid defense and enough pitching to get them back to the top again. They may not be good enough to win the NL title this season, but they should be able to make a run at it. Iowa City's offense is just not very good. I think it holds them back too much and I attribute them missing the post season to this. The defense is only average, but this team has a pitching staff that could carry them. This season will come down to how far that staff can take them. They could easily finish below 500 or near the top of the division. Montreal is a team on the rise and the others better not sleep on them. They have the offensive weapons to make some noise in the division. The have some solid pitching also and could really make a run. This team is on the cusp of ending a 10 season playoff drought. Madison is a team that is rebuilding, but they aren't a team that will go quietly. They have some real talent offensively. That could help them sneak above .500 this season. The fielding and starting pitching will likely keep them from that though.

1. Fargo Wood Chippers
2. Montreal Leaf Blowers
3. Iowa City Hawkeyes
4. Madison Melons

Arfy's Ramblings

First off, let's meet two more coaches who got back to me yesterday

• Colorado Springs Night Watchmen  toe64  Tom, 49, Northwest Illinois area, Insurance, all Chicago teams - Blackhawks, Bears, Bulls, prefer the Cubs but will cheer for the White Sox when not playing the Cubs. Enjoy time with the family, golf, volleyball, zombie shows and movies.
• Dover Dinklebergs  tmfran  Toby, 36, fan of All St. Louis sports teams. Rams season ticket holder. Still a little bit of a cardinals football fan, even though the broke my heart as a boy just learning to love football. Bill bidwell is a ****. I work security for a large corporation in stl. Married with two kids. I gave up fantasy baseball when I found hbd.

At first this was a list of All-Star snubs.  But then I decided I wanted to include everybody.  So this list is the best player on each team that didn't make the all star team.


Sam Sanders LF Alb hitting .314, 21 hr's, and 66 RBI's.
Matt Jaha DH Bost .319 avg, .429 obp, 13 hr, 71 RBI's
Alan Wilson RF Char  .298, 20hr, 61 Rbi's.
Fergie Hill 2B Cin  .304, 33 hr's, 85 rbi's
Alberto Blasco RP Col 20 of 21 saves, 3.00 ERA in a hitters park
John Pong 1B Dov .325, ..422 obp, 19hr, 85 rbi's
Billy Haynes 1B .329 avg, .404 obp, 23 hr's, 66 rbi's
Ismael Duran P Far 11-5, 2.97 era, 1.12 whip
Carl Esposito 1B Hou .285 avg, 25 hr, 73 rbi's.
Rondell Kirwan RP Iowa City 7 for 7 saves, 1.53 ERA, 0.95 whip, lacks innings(29.1)
Rube Clark P Jackson 11-5, 3.44 ERA, 1.15 WHIP
 Rich Pierce 2B Jacksonville .292, .400 obp, 28 SB, 81 runs scored
Ivan Uribe C Kansas City .329 avg, .397 obp
Yusmeiro Veras RF L.A. .290 avg, 35 SB, 70 runs scored
Vic Rijo 1B Lou .329 avg, .397 obp, 20 hr's, 66 RBI's
Fausto DelaVega LF Mad .309 avg,  19 hr's, 64 Rbi's
Clay Jeter P Mon 11-4,  1.29 whip
Apollo Fltecher RP Nash 13 for 13 saves,  1.78 ERA, 1.78 Whip
Sam Slotnik RF N.O. .294 avg, 27 hr, 70 rbi's
Storm Mahoney RF NY 24 hr, 65 rbi's
Miguel Rivera P OKC 6-1, 1.66 ERA,  0.87 WHIP
Kevin Griffiths 1B .303 avg
Russell Powell 1B Roch .358 avg, .444 obp.  Sreiously?  These are Wade Boggs #'s.
Jack Rooney RP Salem  2.83 ERA, He lacks innings
Vasco Tejada RP San Juan 3.47 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, lacks innings
Benny Navarro 2B Sea .362 obp,  26 hr, 22 SB, 88 runs scored
Aurelia Canseco C STL  .309 avg, 18 hr, 61 rbi
Kevin Yamamoto 2B Syr .307 avg
Robert Wallace RF TB 29hr, 74 rbi
Rickie Halama 3B Van .314, 21 hr, 55 rbi
Andres Jacquez P Wichita 1.97 ERA, 1.16 whip, lacks innings

Interesting Numbers

• If you start at the top of the list in innings pitched and work your way down to find out the first pitcher to have more Strikeouts than Innings....the answer is Alex Martis from Houston..  He has 111 Strikeouts in 102 innings
• The 'I won't give up on you' award has to go to New York and pitcher Timo Lee .  In his two seasons with New York he has given up 165 Earned Runs in 174 innings.  Yes, that is an ERA of 8.53 in two seasons
• The top two players in infield hits this season,  both play for Seattle.JJ Decker and Clyde Nathan.
• Right Fielder Anthone Wright leads all pinch hitters this season hitting 11 for 26 as a pinch hitter.  That is a .423 average for those keeping track at home.
• Most innings played this season without an error?  Goes to Jose Alfonzo from Iowa City.  At first base he has played 95 games, 866.2 innings without an error.
• Tampa Bay leads the league in Balks with 5.  I wonder what goes into determining that?
• Vancouver Canucks are 1-7 in extra inning games
• Miguel Gonzales of Durham was the first pitcher in our world to get to 500 saves.   He started the season at 499.
• Cyrus Torres of Seattle might be the first and only pitcher to get 300 wins in our world.   He currently sits at 293.

FLASH TO THE PAST

In this part, I'm going to jump back a few seasons back and look at some transaxtions.  Then we can evaluate how that panned out.

• Season 12 the top player in International Free Agency was Kansas City Outfielder, Jose Borbon .  He was igned for 17.5 million dollars by Nashville's Bnags.  Borbon has been traded 3 times   He has never hit over 19 home runs and has only hit over .300 once.  He has never won and Major league awards.  I would have to call this one a bust
• Season 13   First pick in the amateur draft goes to Las Vegas.(Currently St. Louis).  Stuart 11 selects SS Lou Jeffries with the first pick.  I look at his career and see that he only hits 30+ home runs once, only has 100 + rbi's once and has a .269 career average.  Now that I look, I see that he has over 100 runs scored twice and has had quite a few career stolen bases(316).  Was this a good pick?  At first glance I said no, it might be a wash though.  Just and FYI 3B Jared Glynn was selected second that season. 

Get to know your fellow coaches

Got a lot of responses back on this.  I was pleasantly surprised..   I have already found my self yaaking back and forth with a couple of coaches. If you didn't get a chance to get back to me, then send me something now and I'll include it tomorrow when I do an edition of Arfy's Ramblngs.

• Albuquerque Komodo Dragons     csudak  Name: Casey Location: 20 mins north of Boston Age: 31 Work: Sports Director for a YMCA Teams: All Boston teams Other: Semi-professional at food eating challenges
• Boston Pilgrims  kjmulli  im 29, live in wichita, ks and am a table games supervisor for a casino. i grew up between maine and pennsylvania and my fav teams are red sox,  bruins, dolphins, and lakers (the lakers one is weird, i know). i pretty much spend my time and money partying and traveling (just got back from a 12-day trip to jamaica and pennsylvania).
• Cincinnati Firestorm  jbburner  My name is JB. I am 51 and live in Chicago. I am a retired Wildland Firefighter. Favorite sports teams are the Cubs and Blackhawks and I also enjoy playing golf.
•  Houston Roughnecks  bagwellbuff  -Arfy could have saved me the trouble, since we are Facebook friends, and pulled this off my page. Oh well, I'll indulge him. I am a 55 year old who strongly believes in Andy Dufrene's philosophy in Shawshank Redemption: Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'.I am a graduate student in History at the University of Louisiana. I live in my native Cajun country of south Louisiana. Lafayette, La. is a cosmopolitan city with a music scene that rivals Nashville or Austin; you can't throw a stick without hitting a Grammy award nominee. After I get my Masters in May 2014, I plan to head to a PhD program. At this point, the University of Georgia is my top choice, since my lovely fiancee, whom I met my first-time around in college back in the mid-seventies, has a job with a downtown Atlanta law firm. Obviously, HBD is relaxation therapy for me and the nice people I have met playing this game are a bonus. About the name Bagwellbuff, my son is the Houston Astros fan and this was originally his name. A few years ago, I took over a GD team he lost interest in and kept playing under this username. I am proud of the Sim baseball championships and " Holy Grail" Tournament of Champions championship I won under my original username of timlan2057. My favorite sports teams are the St. Louis Rams, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Rockets and Arsenal. I believe in loyalty and have rooted for all of these since 1967. I can't stand bandwagon fans who jump on and off. In summation, my WIS activity--especially in Pine Tar--is a nice niche in this exciting experience called My Life.
•  Iowa City Hawkeyes  tk21775  Travis, 31, Iowa, Insurance Agent, Michigan Wolverines; coach sons' baseball team for the last 5 years
•  Jackson Juggernauts bobbyj7  Name: Bob J Age: 45-50 Location: Upper Midwest Work: Technical
•  Kansas City Hotsteppers  italianajt  No prob! Adam Tarantino (yes it is and NO I'm not related to Quentin). just turned 30 on 08/03. Live in Albuquerque, NM where I am a Compliance Officer for an Independent Broker/Dealer (investments) I also umpire Little League and NM High School baseball,  New York Yankees is my favorite MLB team and the Baltimore Ravens is my favorite NFL team. I just welcomed my second child, a boy, into this world on 07/28!!!
•  Louisville ARF ARF ARF ARF's  Arfy* My name is Lauren.  Yes, I'm a dude.  I'm 40 and live in Walla Walla, WA.  Born in Cally, lived in Wisconsin and Montana most of my life.  I'm a salesman for Frito Lay Snacks Inc.  In my free time I enjoy Poker and Photography.   I grew up a Braves fan.  Also a HUGE Denver Broncos fan and also a big Boise State Bronco fan.   And on the 17th of August I will be nicotine free for one year, after spending 22 years of my life using! 
•  Madison Melons  reggie988  Hey. My name is Nick. 32. I'm based in Bloomington, IN. I'm a tour manager for bands. I've been a Cubs fan since I was a little kid (I guess I've always been a glutton for punishment).
•  Montreal Leaf Blowers  optistrat  I'll be honest, I'm resisting the temptation to give you a bunch of BS in the name of humor. In reality though, my name is Steve and I am 35 from Minnesota.  for work I publish Rat Rod Magazine which eats up most of my time. Aside from my work with cars, I love to root for all my local sports teams and consider myself a competition junky. If it's competitive, I like it.
•  Nashville Nalas  bnags  Brandon, 36, Hebron, KY(10 minutes south of Cinnati, OH), Bengals, Reds, KY Wildcats. Fan of all sports, but my favorite by far is the NFL. Whatif is actually my second favorite fantasy sports behind Strat-O-Matic. Website is stratomatic.com, check it out!
•  New Orleans Zephyrs  Fantasy Frea  My name is Nathan, 35 years old,      I live in Jacksonville, IL where I just been promoted to store manager for a US Cellular agent store. I am all sports fan pretty much. My favorite teams are the Cubs, Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks. I have 2 kids an 8 year old and a 2 year old both girls.
•  New York Damage Controllers     skuff730  Al-Amin, 28, Anchorage, AK. I am a TSgt in the US Air Force and a IT student. Favorite Sports teams are the Saints, Braves, SEC Football, NJ Devils.
•  Rochester Retards       wylie715  my real name is Mrk. I'm 56 years old, married with a 16 year old daughetr and twin 12 year old sons. I live in northern california, near SF. I work as a customer service advisor for a company that makes automobile accesories.  Up untll recently I drove a limo. My favorite baseball teams are the Yankees (I grew up in NY) and the Giants. I like the 49ers in football, the warriors and Knicks in basketball, and don't really care too much about hockey.
•  Salem Volcanoes       jkenned  Fair enough. Jason, 31 Binghamton, New York. I am from Missouri originally so I bleed Cardinal red and am close to building a shrine to Willie McGee in my office (well not really but I did just buy a McGee powder blue jersey). 3:09 PM     I am a doctoral candidate in Near Eastern Archaeology focusing on prehistoric ceramics and food consumption at several sites in Turkey and Syria.  I have worked in Jordan, Syria, Turkey as well as at several sites in the US but I am currently making ends meet while working on my dissertation as a shift supervisor at UPS.  HBD and GD have given me a great distraction from my dissertation but have probably extended my stay in graduate school by at least 6 months to a year,  but it was worth it. By this time next year I hope to have everything finished and to be starting my career as a professor of archaeology and celebrating my first world series win in HBD. Lofty goals I know but it helps to set high bars. 
• Seattle Strikers  Ghutton9  Glenn. 37. Sit at a computer all day. Cincy reds, bengals, bearcats. Interesting info- I love to lift weights, I play rec league soccer, I used to play a whole lot of softball in competitive tournaments but have kind of given it up.
• St. Louis Arch Angels       Flucie  If you don't mind don't use my last name. St. Louis Cardinals fan since 64, Dallas Cowboys fan since 66, and Born an ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE fan.Roll Tide  Phillip, age:  60 Alabama Retired Correctional Supervisor. Worked over 25 years in Correctional facility. Work the highest rated facility (Max), also worked in the biggest facility in the state over 2000 inmates. Worked Segregation,( Were the inmates stays when they get in trouble.) I play this game to relax or pass the time.
• Tampa Bay Thunder   rxw1  Robert  - 46 - Orlando, Florida. I am a Sr IT Leader at Disney (Been there 20+ years). I coach Pop Warner Football and Little League Baseball for my kids. My favorite teams are the Mets & the Raiders (yeah I know they both suck!). I signed up for WIS in 2003 & won a SimBaseball World Series in my very first WIS season. How is that for luck?
• Vancouver Canucks        skplayer07  Tyler, 25, Ft. Knox, KY/Afghanistan, MP US Army, Cincinnati Reds/Bengals. I am a crazy sports fan, everything I do usually revolves around some type of sport. (Side note:  he is also Ghutton9's brother)
• Wichita DwArf'y Mojados  jibe  Name, Jim. Age 45. Location N. Minnesota, 20 miles from where the Mississippi river starts.  Work, we run an online sales for fruit plants imported from Canada. website, www.honeyberryusa.com We also have 5 acres of fruit orchard planted for future sales of fruit. I also will still do carpentery work.  Fav sport teams, Minnesota Gopher football and Minnesota Twins. Used to love the Vikings but too many heartaches and a bad coach named Brad Childress made them not so loveable. Married, no kids, 1 stray dog that hangs around.    (Side note:  This guy poops Championships, so look out!)