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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 12:12:00 GMT -5
GROUNDHOG DAY PROMOTION 2011 Yes, I know its really a gopher...Another (real-life) calendar year is in the books, and we all await Punxsutawney Phil's word, yet again, on whether or not Winter is here to stay. I know all you East Coast folk are ready for spring; complaining about something called snaw... or snew... or something. Even if Spring is still a few weeks away, it gives us time to reflect upon the PBL's 2012 Spring Training All-Stars. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to tell us your biggest roster surprise of the year so far. Who made the roster due to a great spring training, and is proving themselves in the regular season? REQUIREMENTS:One player who was not on the roster the past season for you, and was not a lock to make the big-leagues going into spring. That means big-splash FAs are a no-go, as are those blue-chip prospects I keep hearing about. We're looking for the greatest underdog (groundhog?) story of the year. Only entries of a paragraph or more will be considered for contention; for those that are writing/keyboard-challenged, post up your best underdog story anyways... Maybe some kind GM will come along and help you out... PRIZES:As of now, the winner wins a playoff preview for his respective league. Or, if the winner should choose, an organizational season in review for his team. The winner will be decided by popular vote, and there are bonuses for the best Caddyshack/Groundhog Day references integrated into your submission. Prize money TBA.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 13:54:00 GMT -5
Considering a bunch of my roster decisions were based on spring training results, I'm down for this!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 15:38:34 GMT -5
Andrew Lambo LFLambo was a throw in in the deal that took Brian McCann to the Dodgers. You know when you look at a deal and think 'that's probably not fair on me, I'll randomly choose some spec who I'm not that interested in - just to make the deal feel a little better....' Sure he had a '7' contact - but no way this guy gets into my ML starting roster. I had planned on Carlos Quentin regaining his position at LF after a long injury, and dumping Lambo into AAA to give me some batting depth. Spring training comes around and Lambo gets some playing time.... he hits .313 in Spring training and never looks back! A few months later he's one of the best gap hitting LHBs in PBL. Hitting .341 vs RHP and .322 overall (6th in the AL), he leads the Mariners in RBIs (79 projecting towards 113). He's been solid in the field (4 errors in 102 games at LF, and hasnt missed a game through injury. Recently Lambo's playing time has been reduced by Russ Canzler's strength vs LHP, but he still looks set to be a fixture in the Mariners line up for years to come.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 17:18:20 GMT -5
Max Stassi C
When Spring Training rolled around, this kid wasn't even on the radar. As a 20-year old he'd put up a decent season at Single A Stockton, putting up a line of .226/.306/.378. He was so young entering the 2012 season that the veterans would hide behind the stands on the back fields betting each other whether or not he would pick his nose ... and subsequently eat it. As the A's system was thin at catcher, Stassi got the nod to start 2012 at AA ... not because he had earned it, but because there was nobody else. He was told to pack his bags and head for Midland, with a sharp reminder to put his increased AA pay in the college fund.
While at AA, Max went berserk at the plate, going .291/.404/.510 in his first 40 games. Given the struggles of the big league and AAA back stops, Stassi's numbers stood out like a Baby Ruth in a crowded swimming pool. Management having lived through the sucktitude that was Kurt Suzuki and Landon Powell as if they were listening to Sonny and Cher on endless repeat, decided to bring the 21-year old to the Show. Stassi , pulled from his comfortable little AA tree trunk, emerged reluctantly, but alertly, and accepted his new burden. Since his promotion, he has responded by going .250/.303/.411. And he carved up would be base snatchers like he was sculpting ice angels, throwing them out at a 40% clip.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 17:30:22 GMT -5
HA! Excellent job, Oakland. My favorite of the bunch:
"Given the struggles of the big league and AAA back stops, Stassi's numbers stood out like a Baby Ruth in a crowded swimming pool."
Too good.
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Post by Derek _ Red Sox on Feb 2, 2011 21:45:55 GMT -5
Love this promotion.. I suggest extending this promo a bit longer to allow people time to look over their team and find time to write an article. After these first two articles, I think its worth the wait to see what others come up with.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 21:48:25 GMT -5
1B Gian Guzman -
There are a lot of candidates on the Chicago White Sox for this job. Heck, 4/9ths of the lineup wasn't expected to be playing in the Majors this season. But one story in particular is a heartwarming tale. You see Gian Guzman was rescued for the depths of despair, playing for the Chicago Cubs, and now gets to spend his days in the relative life of luxury with the South Siders.
Last season Guzman spent his time at A and AAA in the Cubs' farm system. But he just didn't feel like he fit those backwater Midwestern towns like Peoria, Dayton and Iowa City. He got a total of 194 minor league at bats in 2010, but a 1.050 OPS in AAA and a knack for putting the bat on the ball piqued the interest of the White Sox. Even still, Guzman had to wait until the 33rd pick in the Rule 5 Draft to hear his name. Mark Reed, a catcher hitting .192 for the Pirates this season, got drafted 28 slots in front of him. (Again, MARK REED!) And while crazy thoughts went through Guzman's head that day, he knew the White Sox would call and that they'd save him from looking at the vines on Wrigley's wall or wondering when Ike Davis was going to get hurts. (Which turns out would've been May 26.)
Of course, once Guzman got to Chicago it wasn't all fun and games. No, those would come later. First he had to win the job as part of a three-man competition with Mike Carp, the incumbent prospect, and Ryan Garko, last year's AL Gold Glove winner at 1B. Let's just say they didn't take too kindly to having a third guy to beat out. Carp especially terrible, and was known to hide Guzman's name plate, leaving the young gun terrified that he was going to be optioned back to the Cubs for another season in the corn fields.
But a funny thing happened when those games did start. Guzman started hitting. He hit more than anyone thought possible with his funny contact only stroke - that at the time wasn't even great at that - and his weird habit of diving at pitches to avoid strikeouts. In fact, he finished Spring Training with an OPS of .900 with 6 walks and 4 strikeouts. He won the competition and Garko and Carp were sent to AAA. It was a shock in the White Sox clubhouse, but they'd heard Guzman talk. They knew he didn't want to go and face the hooligans in Wrigleyville. They'd ask him about it sometimes and he'd just whisper, "Trust me man, it's bad up there."
And so, terrified that one slump might be enough to lose his job, Guzman kept hitting, and hitting, and hitting. He's now one of the top prospects in the PBL - a 4-star 1B - and has a .911 OPS this season. That funny stroke has started producing more power than anyone thought possible, and at 23 he seems to have his best year's still in front of him. As the season has gone on Guzman has moved up the lineup and now in August he's going Chernobyl style Nuclear with a 1.471 OPS while hitting in prime lineup positions. He looks to be a big part of the White Sox young'uns drive in the AL Central and won't be going back to the North Side any time soon. (Well except for the occasional interleague game.)
And to think, it all just came from never wanting to go back.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2011 23:40:18 GMT -5
Love this promotion.. I suggest extending this promo a bit longer to allow people time to look over their team and find time to write an article. After these first two articles, I think its worth the wait to see what others come up with. I'll leave it open until next Monday night. That leaves 5 nights to participate, including the nice long weekend. Would you like to set the cash prize? I'm not entirely comfortable with that part of my job yet...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2011 13:17:22 GMT -5
The turn-out was a bit disappointing, but that's ok. Should've known better than to create a promotion that asked for creativity...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2011 13:19:51 GMT -5
Vote is up... Make sure you cast your vote!!!
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Post by Derek _ Red Sox on Feb 9, 2011 13:37:33 GMT -5
such a great promo and with the extra time allotted, I was really hoping to get more responses but since that didn't happen and only 3 teams took the extra time to do this, here is what I am going to do:
1st place is $2,000,000 2nd place is $1,000,000 3rd place is $500,000
Thanks for the effort guys! You all should be rewarded! Consider this a bonus for the terrible real life work day I am having!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2011 17:44:29 GMT -5
Class restarted last week, my RA duties restarted last week, my job restarted last week, I'm in the middle of my NBA-blogging obligations, and it takes me about 2 hours to finish one team's schedule. After next week, things will die down for a bit and I'll have more free time for this stuff...plus my team mostly consists of All-Stars who have either slightly overperformed or slightly underperformed, plus Jon Garland and Barry Zito who have track records, and Mike Jacobs who has like 50 at bats.
Aside from Jacobs, nobody who earned a job out of spring training (Jack Cust) has had much big league success. Plus, I can't compete with these entries. Each are very well-written and the Guzman one was particularly funny.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 23:49:57 GMT -5
We've had a total of 10 votes. I'd like to see a bit more before closing this off. (esp. since there is currently a tie for first)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2011 2:39:13 GMT -5
Continuing my housekeeping duties... I'm going to finally put a rest to this promo too.
The reason this one was delayed was to allow for tie-breaking votes to be cast. At the 10 vote mark, both Guzman and Stassi had 4 votes, tied for first. Now at the 12 vote mark, we currently sit at a four-way tie for first. No joke... And if I could figure out how to lock the poll, you guys could see it too...
As it stands, I guess the only fair thing to do would be to split the prize money three-ways. Congrats guys!
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