Opinions on another single year mod?

[capa]

The 61 mod has set quite a high standard as far as add-on mod work goes. Just a superlative effort from all involved.

I also grew up (debatable for sure) in the 60's and 70's, being born in 1956. I watched Mantle and Maris as a kid and have been a Yankee fan as long as I can remember. Fond memories of sitting behind support beams at the old Yankee stadium watching the game through a haze of cigar smoke.

Anyway, was thinking of what other year might be cool to have done as a mod. 1964 was the Yanks last great year, and saw the emergence of the Cardinals as a force to be reckoned with for the next few years. 1968 was the year of the pitcher and might be a great year to reexperience...see if you can get McClain over 30 victories again. Piloting the Cards would be a gas with that lineup and Gibson throwing peas all year. Maybe seeing if you can get Boston over the hump and into the 67 series?

Any thoughts?

C

[UncleMo]

1991.

Other than that, I can not figure one out.

When I'm done with my dynasty I plan on checking out 1994.

[69Yanks]

1969, bad year for my Yanks and a good one for the Amazins. Oriole fans could try for some revenge.

Capa, I was born in 57 and was able to see games at the old Yankee. Attended 2 bat day games and remembering holding up my bat with all the others in unison. Pretty fond memory.

[stecropper]

Hey Guys,

Great discussion. One which Sandman and I have had over the past month or so.

I have suggested '64 because of the Yanks last good year in the '60s, the emergence of the Cardinals as they came from like 10 back with only 20 or so games remaining as the '64 Phillies totally collapsed. Good Year!

'67 with the BoSox edging out like 4 other contenders in the final couple days of the season only to win it on the last day.

'68 & '69 for sure had their special attributes as well ..............

I was born in 'the late 40s and was in full swing through the '60s and totally consumed by Major League Baseball. That is why, not trying to be anal but to a degree I guess I am, I focus solely on the '60s because of what I believe to be a fairly solid knowledge base and very extensive reference materials. I do venture into the early '70s and even later into the '70s for select teams but my knowledge really dwindles fast past the '60s .............

Due to that I am open to any full season mod of the '60s and will certainly be creating the '64 and '67 full seasons for my personal use in the coming months or so. But the beauty of *61 is what Sandy did with the overall look, feel & sound of it all not to mention Hory's contribution on the schedule and organizational lineups.

So count me in with whatever the group as a whole thinks would be the right way to go with any '60s stuff. I know Hory was considering the '54 season I think after his 1994 project is complete and I fully support that idea or any other ideas for other seasons but my capacity to contribute is again limited to the '60s.

Take Care,

Don

[capa]

1969, bad year for my Yanks and a good one for the Amazins. Oriole fans could try for some revenge.

Capa, I was born in 57 and was able to see games at the old Yankee. Attended 2 bat day games and remembering holding up my bat with all the others in unison. Pretty fond memory.

Yep...I went to one bat day...sat in the bleachers next to the visitor bullpen. I remember my dad having a conversation with Bill Monboquette as we were right against the bullpen railing. He was with Boston at the time so it had to be the early to mid-60's...my guess is 1965. Snd yes, held the bat up I think in the 7th inning. Was a decent bat they gave you back then...I mean, as a little leaguer you could have used it in a game. Eventually they went to mini-bats and then realized handing out these clubs to some of the NY fans was probably not a wise thing to do!

C

[Jim825]

The 1978 season is one that is near and dear to my heart. I was born in 1961 (by the way, thanks for the special mod commemorating my birth year! ) and the 1978 season spanned the end of my junior year in high school and the beginning of my senior year (life was much simpler then).

For us Yankees fans, that season was a real roller coaster ride. The Bronx Zoo was as wild as ever, and the Yankees had 3 managers that season -- Billy Martin (94 games), D!ck Howser (1 game) and Bob Lemon (68 games). We watched the Yankees fall 14.5 games behind the Red Sox, only to come charging back to force the 1-game playoff with Bucky Dent hitting his famous home run.

1978 was the year that Ron Guidry won the Cy Young with a 25-3 record. Goose Gossage was the Relief Man of the Year and Jim Rice of the Red Sox won the AL MVP award. Future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor won the AL Rookie of the Year award that year on a strong Brewers team. Jim Palmer of the Orioles threw 19 complete games that year as he compiled a 21-12 record.

In the National League the Dodgers with Garvey, Lopes, Russell, et. al. beat out Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Larry Bowa and the rest of the Phillies to meet the Yankees in a rematch of the 1977 World Series. Dave Parker of the Pirates was the NL MVP and Bob Horner of the Braves was the NL Rookie of the Year. Like the Yankees, the Padres swept both the Cy Young award (Gaylord Perry) and Relief Man of the Year award (Rollie Fingers).

One of the reasons I like Total Classics is that I get to re-live that magical year on a limited basis (the Yankees, Red Sox and Padres are currently in the game). It would be great to see a mod with the rest of the teams included.

[Padres67]

1965 would be good as well as 1962-both had the Dodgers and Giants in a close race for the flag.

[maxbjr]

I thought about suggesting 1969, to see if I could lead the Cubs to victory instead of collasping like they did . But as I checked on baseball history, I found 1957 was a very interesting year. For example;

In the American League…

Ted Williams set an American League record after being intentionally walked thirty-three times during the regular season. It was the highest American League total since the league had started compiling the statistic in 1955.

On June 2nd, New York Yankees ace Whitey Ford fanned six batters in a row to tie an American League record as he shut out the Chicago White Sox 3-0.

Twenty-five days later, Billy Pierce of the Chicago White Sox tossed his third straight shutout while obliterating the strikeout record after retiring twenty-six Washington Senators in a row before pinch-hitter Ed Fitz Gerald looped a double to become the only base runner in the 3-0 effort.

In the National League…

On August 17th, Richie Ashburn of the Phillies proved that lightning could strike twice after hitting spectator Alice Roth twice in the same at bat. The first foul struck the wife of Earl Roth, sports editor at the Philadelphia Bulletin in the face and the second hit her body while she was being removed from her seat on a stretcher. Mrs. Roth went on to the hospital to be treated for a broken nose and Philadelphia went on beat the New York Giants 3-1.

The Brooklyn Dodgers tied a National League record on August 24th after using eight pitchers during a single game. The expanded rotation failed miserably as the first-place Milwaukee Braves dominated the entire bullpen for a 13-7 massacre. The Dodgers' Johnny Podres surrendered three home runs in the fourth and Hammerin' Hank Aaron added insult to injury with the first grand slam of his career. The St. Louis Cardinals also tied the record on September 21st while losing 9-8 (in ten innings) against the Cincinnati Reds.

Milwaukee Braves' ace Warren Spahn hurled the forty-first shutout of his career during an 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on September 3rd setting a new National League record for left-handed pitchers.

Around the league…

The Dodgers became the first Major League baseball team to own their own plane after they purchased a forty-four passenger, twin-engine airliner for $775,000 to transport the club during the season.

The Associated Press named Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jack Sanford as its National League Rookie of the Year and the Milwaukee Braves' Henry Aaron as the 1957 National League Most Valuable Player with two-hundred thirty-nine votes. Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals was a close second with two-hundred thirty. On the American League side, Tony Kubek of the Yankees was elected the American League Rookie of the Year and teammate Mickey Mantle edged out Red Sox rival Ted Williams two-hundred thirty-three to two-hundred nine votes to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award.

(From baseball-almanac.com)

Micky Mantle, Ted Williams and Nelly Fox were all battling each other for top hitting honors in the AL, while Willie Mays and Hank Arron were in the begining of thier hall of fame careers on the NL side.

Lew Burdette pitched 2 shutouts against the Yankees in the World Series, (a feat acomplished only once before in 1907 by Christy Mathewson) to lead the Braves to a championship. :)

[SwinginSoriano]

1927

[HardcoreLegend]

1968 would be an interesting challenge. It was without a doubt the 'year of the pitcher'. If done right with the correct datafiles, it could be something special.

[sfgiantsflgators]

having grown up in missouri and having quite a few friends that periennially are disappointed by the Royals yearly failures (somehow I was drawn to Will Clark and Candy Maldonado when I was growing up and thus engrained the Giants into my being), the "old days" with Brett, White, Saberhagen, etc. are often brought up. wonder if the Royals could have won the 1985 Series without some umpirial help... :chin:

[AstroEric]

1986 had four classic post-season serieses.

And I've already modded my own version of the 86 Astros, the other three post-season teams are in the game....

--Eric

[sfgiantsflgators]

1986 had four classic post-season serieses.

And I've already modded my own version of the 86 Astros, the other three post-season teams are in the game....

--Eric

yeah, that's probably a better idea - the '86 playoffs were pretty damned good. and, it's close enough that if anyone (most likely just me ) wanted to replay the 85 series, i'm sure it wouldn't take me long to do a little mvpediting on the rosters - everything else would be close enough.

[Cash #25]

1968 would be an interesting challenge. It was without a doubt the 'year of the pitcher'. If done right with the correct datafiles, it could be something special.

I agree with 1968 and no, not just because my Tigers won it all. I think there are certain watershed years in baseball. 1961 was certainly one. 1968, with the pitching of McLain, Drysdale, Gibson, et al, was another. Seemed like even the worst teams had at least one big stud starter, and some teams had four. I like pitching and making hitters look foolish, too.

Having said that, you can hardly go wrong on any year you choose. I just love the concept.

[jorge580]

1986 would be a great mod.

[Sean O]

Ok, I think we really need a 20's-30's mod. 1961 was built around M&M, why not do 1927 built around Ruth and Gehrig?

Think of the stadiums, Old pre-"classic" Yankee, Ebbets Field, Braves Field with the 550' center field fence, Comiskey, Classic Fenway, Wrigley Field with the deep outfield, Tiger Stadium before the double decking, it'd be fantastic.

Or, in terms of other stadiums, the late-30's was a great time, right before the war, and all the parks were in their best configurations.

So, 1927 or 1938. Really, baseball hasn't changed anywhere near as much between 1961 and 2006 as it did from the 20s to the 60s.

[SwinginSoriano]

1927 or 1941...

[ehhh]

For a historic season I'd love to see 1927.

More recently I think 1998 would be a great one to do. The homer chase with McGwire and Sosa plus the great Yankee team of that season.

[D-Unit]

how about the early 1900's, maybe 1903, the first year of the yankees.