Back In Black: A 2009 Chicago Whitesox Franchise

[Maestro23]

Update: 30 April 09

Guys in Black end road-trip with a 2-1 series win over Baltimore. They should have had the series sweep, but a late game managerial gaff by Ozzzie prevented that.

Carlos Quentin continues to scorched AL pitching, as he sits atop a couple of statistical categories. Big Jim Thome is swinging a good stick as well.

Jose Contereas goes distance, and finally gets his 1st win of the year.

Bobby Jenks blows 1st save and is saddled with his 1st loss.

Sox are in 3-way tie for 1st with Cleveland & Minnesota. Each team is 10-6.

Milestone Update: Congrats to Cincy's Aaron Harang, who notched his 1000th career K. He did it in a win against the Chicago Cubs, by striking out 8.

Sox finally return home and have a 3-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays (8-9).

As always, check the DM page for complete stats and write-ups.

DM Page: http://www.dynastymanager.com/teampage.php...%20series%202-1

[JoeRudi26]

Wow, that dynasty page looks great, Rob. I recommend anyone who follows this to click onto the dynasty manager links and explore your way around the page, there are some very cool things to check out. Excellent job.

Looks like playing at home (5-1) is keeping you in the mix of things within the division. Good luck with the Jays!

[Maestro23]

Wow, that dynasty page looks great, Rob. I recommend anyone who follows this to click onto the dynasty manager links and explore your way around the page, there are very cool things to check out. Excellent job.

Looks like playing at home (5-1) is keeping you in the mix of things within the division. Good luck with the Jays!

Thanks Jay. Yeah, the home cooking at US Cellular is definately keeping us in the thick of things right now.

Quentin and his (dare I say it, too early) MVP caliber season so far, aren't hurting us either. I don't know what it is with him, but I can just punish the ball with him. Love going the opposite way with him also.

Still way to early, and I know these bats are going to cool off, once I face some higher quality pitching. Heck, look what Kazmir and Shields did to me.

Thanks again Jay.

How are your Cubbies doing?

[JoeRudi26]

.507 with 8 homeruns and 23 RBI's probably isn't considered an MVP nomination this early in the season, but I bet the Roids Committee are buying tickets to both home and away games.

Wow, those are some monster numbers. He must be punishing the ball everytime he steps to the plate.

Anyway, not sure what's going on in my neck of the woods, messing around with MVP, nothing too significant. Either way, it looks like this dyansty is the one to follow. Great work, man.

[Maestro23]

.507 with 8 homeruns and 23 RBI's probably isn't considered an MVP nomination this early in the season, but I bet the Roids Committee are buying tickets to both home and away games.

Wow, those are some monster numbers. He must be punishing the ball everytime he steps to the plate.

Anyway, not sure what's going on in my neck of the woods, messing around with MVP, nothing too significant. Either way, it looks like this dyansty is the one to follow. Great work, man.

Man, let Ozzie catch some of Bud's little minions sniffing around the clubhouse for 'roids.... Ozzie has been calm, but if that happens

Yeah, I'm having fun with this team, and until the game totally breaks down on me, like it did you, ... I'll keep the dynasty updated.

Thanks again Jay.

[Wicked420]

My Redbirds suck in your franchise! Haha they're in last place and 5-12!

Looks like you're having some bullpen trouble. I also noticed your starters go very deep into games, you might want to up the pitcher fatigue to 60. You'll get more realistic innings, but not pitch counts. I prefer the innings to be accurate, but some like the pitch counts, to each his own. Good luck with the Jays!

What happened to your game Joe?

[Maestro23]

My Redbirds suck in your franchise! Haha they're in last place and 5-12!

Looks like you're having some bullpen trouble. I also noticed your starters go very deep into games, you might want to up the pitcher fatigue to 60. You'll get more realistic innings, but not pitch counts. I prefer the innings to be accurate, but some like the pitch counts, to each his own. Good luck with the Jays!

What happened to your game Joe?

Yeah, Wicked... you boys aren't doing to well man. I'll have to check in on Tony and see what is going on.

I push my starters well into the red on fatigue, because I have injuries off at the moment. I might bump it up as you suggested though.

Ozzie doesn't know what to do with his bullpen. Maybe some home cooking will be the answer, we'll see in the Jays' series.

Thanks for checking out the thread man.

[CircleChange11]

Looks great.

I need to get some updates in, as I've played 3 series with both the Tigers and Cards, but only one update. I'm having fun playing the game and getting into modding unis, more than updating. That's a franchise "faux pas".

You have a LOT of high quality stuff at your dynasty page. I didn;t know you did a write up on each game until I clicked on the game results page. Good stuff.

Porcello is a beast for Detroit ... and very fun to pitch with.

[Maestro23]

Looks great.

I need to get some updates in, as I've played 3 series with both the Tigers and Cards, but only one update. I'm having fun playing the game and getting into modding unis, more than updating. That's a franchise "faux pas".

You have a LOT of high quality stuff at your dynasty page. I didn;t know you did a write up on each game until I clicked on the game results page. Good stuff.

Porcello is a beast for Detroit ... and very fun to pitch with.

Thanks CC. Yeah, I been waiting for you to update what you started here with the 2 teams. Love the concept.

I do a writeup for every game. If you want to view past game writeups, when you go over to the DM page.... Click on the Schedule link at the top, and click on the score for a game.

Man, Porcello shut me down. Never really did get a good hit off him. He humbled my Sox, cause we had been hitting the cover off the ball.

[stevieaces]

Very nice franchise, M23. I sent you a PM but it didnt show up in my sentbox, lemme know if you didn't get it :D

[Maestro23]

Very nice franchise, M23. I sent you a PM but it didnt show up in my sentbox, lemme know if you didn't get it

Thanks stevie. Yeah, I got it and replied to ya. Hope it helps.

Thanks for checking out the page man. Got some updates coming later tonight.

Been busy with work. Never a good thing when you have to take work home with ya. <_<

[yankeeboi14]

this is a nice dynasty here

[Maestro23]

Update: 16 May 09

Sorry for the short hiatus guys. Lot of overtime at work. Good for the bank account, but seriously cuts into my all-important game time.

The Guys in Black singe the Blue Jays' feathers with their hot bats and took the series 2-1. Big Jim Thome is heating up, as he belted his 1st Grand-Slam of the season in Game 3.

Game 2 saw the Jays rough up Danks and give him is worst outing of the season.

The Sox repaid the favor in Game 3 by doing the same to Toronto's S. Marcum. Chasing him after just a 1/3 of an inning, by exploding for 9 runs in the 1st.

Quentin, Dye, & Thome are going to start their own law firm soon. These guys are on fire, and are 1-2-3 in the AL in Batting Average.

Bullpen showed promise this series, but Ozzie is still not happy with the team overall.

Sox host Ichiro and the Mariners next in a 3-game series.

As always, check the DM page for full-coverage.

DM Page: http://www.dynastymanager.com/teampage.php...s%27%20Feathers

[JoeRudi26]

Great update, M, nice job on the black and white format.  Looks eerily real.     Growing up in the WGN area, and when reading the title on the graphic, I could almost hear Hawk and Wimpy, lol.

YES!

[Maestro23]

Great update, M, nice job on the black and white format.  Looks eerily real.     Growing up in the WGN area, and when reading the title on the graphic, I could almost hear Hawk and Wimpy, lol.

YES!

Thanks Jay. Yeah, I like that black/white format myself. I might use it on the articles too. Man, listening to Hawk and Stone right now on WGN. Hawk gets out-of-control sometimes.

[Kikix]

great job I love Ozzie's Corner

[Maestro23]

great job I love Ozzie's Corner

Thanks Kikix. Ozzie is someone you can have fun with win or lose. :D

[CircleChange11]

He's a lot more fun when they lose. *grin*

It's not often that a manager takes a weekend off to go to his son's graduation and says that it'll be good for him to get away from the team for a little while. Classic Ozzie.

I'm not sure how much longer his "bit" will play in Chicago ... but it's fun while it lasts.

[Maestro23]

He's a lot more fun when they lose. *grin*

It's not often that a manager takes a weekend off to go to his son's graduation and says that it'll be good for him to get away from the team for a little while. Classic Ozzie.

I'm not sure how much longer his "bit" will play in Chicago ... but it's fun while it lasts.

ROFL. I hear ya CC. That's Ozzie... being Ozzie.

That Championship a few years ago, bought him some more time. ^_^

[Maestro23]

Update: 19 May 09

What a series against Seattle. They were way better than their record indicated. Ichiro was a pain in my side all series long, doing what he does best: Slapping hits everywhere and causing havoc on the bases. He had 4 stolen bases in the series.

Guys in Black prevailed though. After getting man-handled 8-1 in Game 1, we took the remaining 2 games to take the series 2-1. Game 2 was a 15-inning marathon that went well into the night. Both bullpens were exhausted, and thanks to Mr. Dye, the Sox came out on top. Good starting pitching and timely hitting by Josh Fields secured Game 3 for us.

Still trying to find out how far the moonshot off Dye's bat went.

[JoeRudi26]

Great update, M.  Congrats on the win and the monster bomb by Dye.  Love the pitcher's reaction.   :D

[CircleChange11]

Dye hit that ball pretty much to the exact spot that Harold Baines gave his "speech" (as much as Baines can give a speech), during "Harold Baines Day".

I've stood on that pavilion during BP, and that is a SERIOUS blast. Seeing that CF is 400 ft, and figuring where it would land, I would not be surprised if it was 490-520 feet.

My biggest blast came with Pujols in Houston, when he darn near hit the train. No, Brad Lidge was not involved.

I also love the pitcher's reaction. I have seen pitchers drop into a catcher's squat and swipe at the pitching mound after giving up a bomb, but I've never seen the "sweep the leg, Johnny" maneuver.

FWIW, Seattle sweot the crap out of me when I played them at Safeco. Branyan is having as good of a season on 2k9 as he is in MLB. He went deep twice in 3 games, and King Felix, while being easy to steal off of, is hard to reach for runs.

[TheSabathiaEra]

15 innings? wow

[Maestro23]

Dye hit that ball pretty much to the exact spot that Harold Baines gave his "speech" (as much as Baines can give a speech), during "Harold Baines Day".

I've stood on that pavilion during BP, and that is a SERIOUS blast. Seeing that CF is 400 ft, and figuring where it would land, I would not be surprised if it was 490-520 feet.

My biggest blast came with Pujols in Houston, when he darn near hit the train. No, Brad Lidge was not involved.

I also love the pitcher's reaction. I have seen pitchers drop into a catcher's squat and swipe at the pitching mound after giving up a bomb, but I've never seen the "sweep the leg, Johnny" maneuver.

FWIW, Seattle sweot the crap out of me when I played them at Safeco. Branyan is having as good of a season on 2k9 as he is in MLB. He went deep twice in 3 games, and King Felix, while being easy to steal off of, is hard to reach for runs.

Thanks CC. I was hoping someone had been to US Cellular and good tell me just how far it was to that spot. I tell ya, when I hit it, I knew Dye had gotten all of it... just not THAT much.

Like I said, they were way better than their record indicated.

lol@Baines. I love Harold, but I remember that "speech". Some people should just not have a mic put in front of them.

@JR: Man, Dye got all of it, and I'm glad too. It was getting late, and my eyes were beginning to play tricks on me. The pitcher reaction was cool. First time I'd seen that one.

@TheSabathiaEra: Man, that game was exhausting. Both of us would get runners on base, and then let them die. One of my most enjoyable games so far though. Bullpens were depleted.

Thanks for checking in guys.

[Maestro23]

Update: 22 May 09

Guys in Black are glad to be leaving the Lone Star State. Ron Washington's boys laid down the law on Ozzie & Co., taking the series 2-1. They flat-out decimated the starting pitching in games 1 & 2. Josh Hamilton & Ian Kinsler put a hurting on the ball all series. Sox showed some pride in game 3 and avoided the sweep.

Ozzie is beside himself about the pitching staff. He's had bullpen troubles since the season began, but it now looks as if the rotation might be starting to have issues.

Sox are in a 3-way tie for 2nd in the Division with Minnesota & Detroit. Cleveland sits atop the Division with a 1 game lead.

Weekly and Monthly Awards are posted over at the DM page.

Sox head to last place KC for a quick 2-game stint, then back home for 2 games against Detroit.

As always, check the DM page for full-coverage: http://www.dynastymanager.com/teampage.php...amp;u=Maestro23