TOTALMINORS VERSION 3 RELEASED!!!

[JKidd]

Ok my bad i miss read that sorry.

[Millennium]

Couple of Oriole's minor changes:

- Jay Gibbons batting stance to Shawn Green. Gibbons uses a back-leg crouch and his hands are shoulder level, much like Green's in-game stance.

- Sidney Ponson doesn't throw a curve. I would eliminate it from his set altogether, or make it his weakest pitch.

- Matt Riley's curve should rival Barry Zito's in movement, but not have anywhere near the control of Zito. Riley's curve should also have more horizontal break to it, as it isn't a 12-6 curve.

- Melvin Mora's batting stance. I will get back to you, but it needs to be changed to a more upright and closed stance.

[Vinestal*]

This is a very minor thing but Kyle Farsnworth routinely hits 100 mph with his fastball, Ive actually seen him hit 103 on WGN's radar gun. His velocity should be uped because Ive only been able to hit 97 with him. There are a handful of guys in the majors that can hit 100 with any consistancy but it doesnt seem like any of them can hit it in this game. Ive actaually seen Zambrano hit 100 a few times (actually hit 100 in the playoffs a couple of times) but that usually means he's overthrowing and he loses movement when he cranks it up like that. He's usually just in the mid to upper 90s. I know this is something I could fix in MVP edit myself but Id like to see the guys that can hit 100+ with the fastball do it in the game. Maybe when you adress the major leaguer ratings you could look into this.

[GForce22]

This is a very minor thing but Kyle Farsnworth routinely hits 100 mph with his fastball, Ive actually seen him hit 103 on WGN's radar gun. His velocity should be uped because Ive only been able to hit 97 with him. There are a handful of guys in the majors that can hit 100 with any consistancy but it doesnt seem like any of them can hit it in this game. Ive actaually seen Zambrano hit 100 a few times (actually hit 100 in the playoffs a couple of times) but that usually means he's overthrowing and he loses movement when he cranks it up like that. He's usually just in the mid to upper 90s. I know this is something I could fix in MVP edit myself but Id like to see the guys that can hit 100+ with the fastball do it in the game. Maybe when you adress the major leaguer ratings you could look into this.

I know Farnsworth can do it. I will be looking at everything when I do v3.

GH

[snivlem_eht]

wow, can't wait to try out version 2!

[snivlem_eht]

looking great!

one thing, In Texas' double A, SP Frank Francisco should be a RP not SP,

and RP Kameron Loe should be an SP not an RP.

unless there was a specific reason why they're like that.

a couple more moves:

AA - SP Ryan Snare should be in AAA

AAA - CJ Wilson should be in AA.

(since Ryan Snare is in AAA in real life, and CJ Wilson is injured for the season, and was in AA last year, so this sounds reasonable, or, cj wilson could just be deleted and sam narron put in his place in AA. Sam Narron's having a great year).

AAA:

Dominguez a SP not RP

Rosman Garcia a RP not SP

AA:

Jimenez a SP not RP

these ^ are just in name. They were already in their correct positions in the rotation.

[jpup]

I have updated the Reds batting stances and equipment. Note: I am not finished with the entire team and will still make some adjustments to the current changes.

Batting Stances

Jimenez=Walker

Casey=Klesko

Dunn=C. Jones (Arod with higher hands would be perfect)

Larson=Helton

Cruz=J. Gonzalez

Valentin=Bent

Pena-Burnitz

Kearns=Piazza

Equipment

Acevedo: change from slim to altheletic, low socks, lt brown glove

Casey: Black glove, black bat, low socks, no wristbands, black shin guard

Valentin: #17, Black glove, lt brown bat, large both wristbands, low socks

Jimenez: black bat, low socks, large left wristband, no shin guard, no facial hair, changed skin tone to 6, black glove

Larkin: black bat, black glove, low socks, no wristbands, no shin guard

Larson: black bat, no wristbands, low socks

Dunn: lt brown bat, no wristbands, mesh elbow pard, low socks

Cruz: #9, black glove, black bat, low socks, no wristbands

Pena: Black bat, no wristbands, low socks

Kearns: black bat, black glove, low socks

Larue: low socks

wagner: high socks

Lidle: high socks

Freel: high socks

Wilson: low socks

van poppel: changed to stocky, make starting pitcher, changed stamina to 76

griffey: changed to atheletic

release jimmy haynes, add jason romano to louisville.

As you can see, this is still a work in progess. this update should help make the team look more realistic.

[Mutombo]

Thanks for the Eldred beard. That was one thing I was going to mention.

Here are a couple more:

You might want to turn the Cardinals base-stealing up a notch. They steal more than they used to, and have been quite aggressive lately. So instead of 0, maybe a 1 in the steals team profile would be adequate.

Also, Hector Luna needs a little work. He needs to be darker than he is by a couple notches. Also, he doesn't have a mustache, just a little goatee on his chin.

Thanks for all your hard work GForce, and I'll give you a few more things when I get a chance.

[GForce22]

Thanks for the Eldred beard. That was one thing I was going to mention.

Here are a couple more:

You might want to turn the Cardinals base-stealing up a notch. They steal more than they used to, and have been quite aggressive lately. So instead of 0, maybe a 1 in the steals team profile would be adequate.

Also, Hector Luna needs a little work. He needs to be darker than he is by a couple notches. Also, he doesn't have a mustache, just a little goatee on his chin.

Thanks for all your hard work GForce, and I'll give you a few more things when I get a chance.

Thanks for the notes. Steal and other managerial ratings will all be adjusted as part of v3.

GH

[mnkc79]

Nice work G, I sent you some Twins info the other day, and tonight was able to sit down and watch the last couple innings of the MN/CWS game. I took note of a few more changes for the Twins and a couple for the hated White Sux.

More that I noticed today:

Rincon – consistently hitting 94 w/ fastball, at times 95

Lecroy – lt. brown bat and glove

Doug – lt. brown bat

Lew Ford – black bat

Jones – dark brown glove (actually auburn)

Cuddyer – low pants, black bat, small left wristband, stance more upright/slightly open (I’m thinking M. Ordonez is good choice)

Morneau – #27, bat is light/dark brown, not an option, so use dark brown

Prieto - #17, black bat

For White Sox:

M. Ordonez – glove is light gray, so light brown would look better than dark brown

Thomas – normal wristbands on both

Pollite – black glove

Olivo – hockey mask

Konerko – black bat, black elbow pad

[Goldensuitcase]

GeForce,

Instead of Tyler Davidson in AAA, I think you should put Prentice Redman there and replace Davidson with Ian Bladergroen instead as he appears to have the more upside especially since he is dominating and is 2 years younger than Davidson who plays in the same league.

[GForce22]

GeForce,

Instead of Tyler Davidson in AAA, I think you should put Prentice Redman there and replace Davidson with Ian Bladergroen instead as he appears to have the more upside especially since he is dominating and is 2 years younger than Davidson who plays in the same league.

Small sample size and Davidson is rated by Baseball America as the better prospect. They'll stay as is.

GH

[Cris987]

Jays Catalanotto's first position should be LF and Reed Johnson's first position should be RF.

I thought maybe you can change A-ROd's 1st and 2nd position around too.

How's v3 going?

Thx,

Cris

[jamcadbury]

Hey GF, I know you did create Carlos Almanzar (RP, Texas ML level) but I don't know if you plan on editing him any further. He hits 96-98 consistently with his fastball IRL, while in your roster he tops out in the lower half of the 90s. Looks like you've got the other Texas fireballer, Frank Francisco's, fastball speed down just right though.

Thanks, keep up the great work.

[Dodger_Fan]

OK, I finally got off my lazy behind and did some research on Dodgers equipment. Here is what I have found.

Wilson Alvarez: black glove, black bat

James Loney: black bat

Jeff Weaver: black glove, black bat

Guillermo Mota: black glove

Eric Gagne: black glove

Odalis Perez: black glove, black bat

Duanar Sanchez: tan glove

Kaz Ishii: black glove, brown bat w/ tan handle

Brian Falkenborg (actually not in your roster yet): black glove

Jason Grabowski: black glove, black bat

Alex Cora: brown glove, black bat w/ tan handle

Darren Dreifort: brown glove

Tom Martin: brown glove

Robin Ventura: black glove, black bat

Chin-Feng Chen: black glove, black bat

Paul LoDuca: tan glove, red bat, shin guard, no elbow pad

Jose Lima: black glove

David Ross: black glove, tan bat

Shawn Green: black glove, tan bat

Jose Hernandez: tan glove, black bat, shin guard

Cesar Izturis: tan glove, tan bat w/ dark brown handle

Juan Encarnacion: black glove, black bat w/ brown handle

Milton Bradley: black glove, black bat w/ tan handle

Adrian Beltre: black glove, black bat, shin guard

I hope this helps. Thanks again for all your hard work.

[Goldensuitcase]

GeForce, you have Chris Widger as the backup catcher for the Mets AAA Norfol team, but he was released before the season started. On April 5th to be exact and while that may not be the official MLB opening day, it still was the day before 10 teams first game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/transactions?team=nym

[GForce22]

Hi all,

v3 is going to be my last update of TotalMinors for this year. I'm going to take time with it because I am basically totally redoing the major leaguers. Very few of their ratings will be the same as before.

One big improvement is that I am totally redoing the chase/take/miss ratings. What I saw before was that, in playing a game out, guys didn't really have an approach at the plate that you would normally see from them. 145 strikeout guys weren't chasing, 95 walk guys were too aggressive...and it seemed these ratings were just random in many cases.

I'm also not a big believer of the guy who chases slow breaking balls but not fastballs or vice versa, or particularly a guy who misses one but not the other...most of the time, that has to do with location of the pitch, not because a guy can't hit a certain pitch. Troy Glaus will pummel a hanging curve over the heart of the plate, so why should his miss rating, whatever it is, be based on the type of pitch. It doesn't make sense. The cold zones tell you where a guy's trouble spots are. So the take/chase/miss ratings are going to be more uniform for the major leaguers. And thus far I think it makes a much better, more realistic approach at the plate by computer hitters.

But as for it being the last version, it's a couple of things...First, I'm burned out on it. This takes a LOT of time, and I'm really just tired. Second, I have other things that need taking care of that are of higher priority. My son 15 months old now, is running all over the place and loves being outside, wanting to run around, play and hang out with dad. I won't tell him no because I'm doing rosters for some video game.

I'm going to make v3 as comprehensive as I can, but that will be it for this year and this is likely the last current day roster I will do, period. If I continue roster development, it will be doing all-time rosters, which are less time sensitive and can be done more at my leisure. I love doing these rosters, I truly do, but the time element is one that is catching up with me.

Be patient on v3 and I will do my best to make it worth the wait.

Thanks.

GH

[metalboy15]

take your time man, i´ll be waiting 8)

[x94blair3]

Take your time with things Gforce. I think most folks aren't looking for updates because they expect you to say "it'll be done tomorrow" but because lots of feedback is being offered and they're just wondering how it's all going.

Having used your work in HH and OOTP, I know it would be a great loss to lose your knowledge base. If you decide in the future to divide and conquer your work (reviewing others efforts might be less time consuming) remember there could be quality help! Having said that, I know it's hard to lose control over that sort of thing so I respect your soloist mentality.

I'm very excited about the chase ratings you're talking about. I didn't even know about those! It sounds like the solution to my chief concern:

On pro level, the human pitcher - CPU batter duel feels very good. They swing at pitches out of the zone, swing and miss at pitches in the zone, take pitches in the zone, even get foul balls. Unfortunately they also have too poor a contact and it's fairly easy to dominate them.

On Allstar (and especially MVP level) where you have to do your best pitching, the duel feels artificial with the CPU batter almost always making the right choice. Even if you're holding them to few hits, their contact is generally too good and it's very hard to get on a roll with K pitchers.

It sounds to me like you're seeing the same thing and the ratings might have the workable solution that I haven't found in a tune file.

-Nick

P.S. As always, if you need help crunching #'s or something else, let me know.

[Dodger_Fan]

Hey, no rush at all. I think we all totally understand that family ALWAYS comes first. When it's done, it's done. No big deal.

Thanks again for all your time and your hard work!!

[hellblazer_]

Gforce,

Thanks for letting us know the status of version three. I know how much effort goes into making rosters. I made a set last year (they contained in-depth changes for one team; SF, with only the biggest surprise and disappointment players updated on the 29 other teams).

I'm holding off my dynasty until your third version of your roster is released. In the meantime, I'll play with Kerms rosters. When your rosters are finished, I'll provide my impression of it by comparing/contrasting it with Kerms.

If you are feeling burned out, perhaps you should scale back your aspirations by narrowing your scope of adjustments. Of course, this is just a suggestion, as I too would like the best rosters possible. My only worry is that your ambition will outpace the amount of time available for the projects development.

I tried to send you a small donation to keep your enthusiasm up but paypal has a problem with the last four digits on my credit card and wants a bank account number for verification purposes. I wasn't prepared nor expecting this and I'm not comfortable giving that information out. At least with a credit card I'll have recourse if someone steals my identity or makes charges to my account. But if a hacker gets my bank account info, I'm toast. Some thief got a hold of my grandmothers bank account number and withdrew or transferred money out (I don't know the $ amount as she was shocked and embarrassed that this could happen to her).

Anyways, thanks again for your time and effort. I'm looking forward to using your roster. Feel free to keep us updated on your developmental decisions and progress.

Regards,

Hellblazer

[snake eyez]

GForce... some recommended batting stance changes (a few of these you've already implemented in your last update)

Soriano (TEX) to Renteria

Renteria (STL) to Guerrero

Overbay (MIL) to L. Gonzalez

Javy Lopez (BAL) to Piazza

Kearns (CIN) to Piazza

Johnny Damon (BOS) to Green

Posada (NYY) to Burnitz

Millar (BOS) to Sierra (pants to high)

Kaz Matsui (NYM) to Vina

Koskie (MIN) to C.Jones

Gerut (CLE) to Helton (pants to low)

Furcal (ATL) to Lofton

Kent (HOU) to Lofton

Wigginton (NYM) to Thome

Blalock (TEX) to Boone

Zeile (NYM) to Gehrig

Shannon Stewart (MIN) to Klesko

Mueller (BOS) to Klesko

E. Alfonzo (SF) to Matsui

A. Gonzalez (FLA) to Matsui

Abreu (PHI) to B. Giles

DaVanon (ANA) to B. Giles

G. Anderson (ANA) to Rodriguez

Drew (ATL) to Rodriguez

Torii Hunter (MIN) to Thomas

Lowell (FLA) to Ordonez

Nick Johnson (EDM) to Open

Juan Rivera (MON) to J. Gonzalez

Brad Wilkerson (MON) to L.Walker

Orlando Cabrera (MON) to Renteria

Chris Woodward (TOR) to Generic

M.Cabrera (FLA) to Guerrero

A.Rowand (CHIW) to Matsui

Crede (CHIW) to Helton

Berkman (HOU) to Boone

C.Patterson (CHIC) to Glaus

LoDuca (LA) to Generic

Bradley (LA) to Generic (pants to low)

Ventura (LA) to L. Walker

Ar. Ramirez (CHIC) to Piazza

A. Gonzalez (CHIC) to Open

Tino Martinez (TB) to Boone

C.Crawford (TB) to Lofton (pants to low)

Baldelli (TB) to Gehrig (pants to high)

Blum (TB) to Upright

Fick (TB) to B. Williams

M.Giles (ATL) to Open

Dunn (CIN) to Open

Loretta (SD) to Crouched

S.Casey (CIN) to Klesko

T. Clark (NYY) to Upright

Eric Chavez (OAK) to Boone

Eric Byrnes (OAK) to Vina (pants to high)

Derek Lee (CHIC) to Upright

Miguel Cairo (NYY) to Crouched

Karim Garcia (NYM) to Generic

Jose Reyes (NOR) to B. Williams

Mark Grudzielanek (CHIC) to Upright

Burroughs (SD) to High

Mark Ellis (SAC) to Generic

V. Martinez (CLE) to Klesko (pants to low)

Crisp (CLE) to Open

Blake (CLE) to Generic

Guillen (ANA) to Garciappara (pants to low)

Crosby (OAK) to Helton (pants to high)

D. Young (DET) to Klesko

Also, you might want to change Barry Bonds body size from average to large, his head looks huge compared to his body.. lol. I know it's a side effect of 'roids, but it's still comical. Also adding in Bonds' 2003 stats would be nice, I have his splits (inc. TPA's) if you like.

Enrique Wilson's body shape could use a makeover too.. he looks like a fat toad running around the infield.. lol.

[jpup]

adam dunn does not have an open stance. i don't know why you all keep posting that. chipper jones stance is the closest to dunn. arod's is good, but the hands aren't high enough.

[mets2004]

jason phillips on the mets body size is 2 small and so is griffy they look like twigs when there up at bat

[duckdodger215]

I think Falkenborg has a brown glove, actually. I went to the Braves-Dodgers game and have a photo with him in it and he's fielding BP with a brown glove. Very picky, I know, but just thought I'd let you know.

Also, is there a player portrait/photo set that corresponds with gforce's totalminors roster that anyone knows about or uses that is really good?