Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Veterans’ Challenge Series - In-Field Simulation (Challenge #3)

In a tribute to these heroes, I present Part 3 of the Veterans’ Challenge Series. The series consists of four parts, and ideally you advance to take on the next challenge. Consider it your time in the service. Challenges will stretch from Memorial Day to the 76th anniversary of the “Day of Days (June 6th, D-Day).”


Nobody sends their soldiers into battle without simulation and this is no different. As an interesting twist, this will be a 5x5 match up (two pitchers and three hitters per team). In this challenge, you will be going against the Veterans’ members from the Great War (World War I).

Their team will consist of:
Captain Cobb
Aviator Speaker
Corporal Wilson
Captain Mathewson
Sergeant Alexander

For this challenge, you are able to select five players. When selecting your team, you must:

-Pick three hitters – any position and combination you want

-Pick two starting pitchers – no relievers for this challenge

-You are able to choose from any 2000, 2001, 2019, or non-World War I Veterans

-One of your players must be a foil (Veterans all count as foils)

-Your salary cap is 2750

 

Since the 5x5 is a new concept, here are some ground rules to help (your personal field navigator):

-Each team has a set defense of +8 IF, +4 OF, and +6 C (the exception to this is if you field a catcher with a better arm than +6, you are able to play with that arm defensively)

-Each team will designate a starting pitcher and a reliever

-Each team will select a number one, number two, and number three batter

 

In the challenge, your number one batter will take every at-bat during the 1st, 4th, and 7th innings. Your number two batter will take every at-bat during the 2nd, 5th, and 8th innings. The number three batter will take every at-bat during the 3rd, 6th, and 9th innings. Standard house rules apply for number of outs, stolen bases, fielding checks, etc. For pitchers, the starter will throw the first five innings of the game and never tire. For the reliever, he will throw from the sixth inning on and never tire (this includes extra innings). We’re all honorable men here, so manage the WWI squad as you would your own.

Your goal is to win a best of three series.

 

For the Veterans, their lineup will be:

Captain Mathewson – 1st through 5th innings

Sergeant Alexander – 6th inning and on

Captain Cobb – 1st, 4th, and 7th innings

Aviator Speaker – 2nd, 5th, and 8th innings

Corporal Wilson – 3rd, 6th, and 9th innings

 

In order to advance and attain Captain status, you must post:

-The five man roster you assembled and what roles on your team they were assigned to

-How many attempts it took you to win a three-game series

-Scores from all three games

 

On a side note, I would love to hear the feedback of this concept in general (the 5x5 competition), as I am exploring some other similar challenges, featuring unique ways to construct a squad to beat the challenge.

3 comments:

  1. Took me a couple of tries on this one but had fun building out my rosters. So here are the attempts:
    Attempt 1
    2001 Team
    Pedro Martinez (1-5), Greg Maddux (6-on), Matt Lawton(1,4,7), Ellis Burks (Cleveland) (2,5,8), and Todd Helton (3,6,9)
    Game 1 - 11-9 W - Helton scored 5 in the 3rd
    Game 2 - 3-13 L - Wilson dominated with 7 runs
    Game 3 - 6-7 L (10) - Helton put up two in the top of 9 to force extras and Lawton even scored a run but Cobb hit a two-run walk-off
    Series MVP - Wilson

    Attempt 2
    Barry Zito (1-5), Pedro Martinez (6-on), Johnny Damon(1,4,7), Ellis Burks (Cleveland) (2,5,8), and Todd Helton (3,6,9)
    Game 1 - 4-6 L - couldn't get anything going
    Game 2 - 1-5 L - the bats never showed up this time around
    Series MVP - Cobb

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  2. Third attempt was a charm. Changed the lineup and went with a 2000 based team:
    Pedro Martinez (1-5), Ramon Martinez (6-on), Edgar Martinez (1,4,7), Jason Kendall (2,5,8), Bobby Abreu (3,6,9)
    Game 1 - 8-5 W - Kendall with 5 runs
    Game 2 - 6-11 L - Wilson dominated again with 8 runs
    Game 3 - 10-4 W - finally was able to win on the third attempt led by Abreu's 6 runs - pitching duel through 5 innings with Mathewson leaving with a 2-0 lead
    Series MVP - Abreu

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  3. Tried this one more time rolling with a team made up of 2019 cards. Got a clean sweep winning the first two games. Here was the squad: Gerrit Cole (1-5), Tyler Glasnow (6-on), Fernando Tatis Jr. (1,4,7), Anthony Rizzo (2,5,8), and Christian Yelich (3,6,9)
    Game 1 - 9-6 W - Tatis with 3 runs, Rizzo with 4, and Yelich with 2 - Vets couldn't get anything going with Cobb scoring 4 of their 6
    Game 2 - 11-10 W (10) - this was a great game going back and forth the entire game - Yelich scored two in the bottom of the 9th - Tatis started off with an out but follow by a triple - elected to walk the bases loaded to create a force out at home but fly ball result ended the game with the winning run tagging up
    Series MVP - Tatis Jr.

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