A Home For The Aged: A BBM Marlins Expansion Dynasty

[Suicane]

MAY 14TH: Marlins (17-21) Vs Expos (22-17)
Van Egmond went 6 strong innings and left down 2-1. We played a great game against their ace Ken Hill but came up just a run short in an exciting but ultimatly hard to lose ballgame. Nilsson had a homer.
Final Score: Expos 3 Marlins 2



MAY 15TH: Marlins (17-22) Vs Expos (23-17)
Bowen left after 7 great innings up 7-2. Our bullpen was a bit unsteady but Percival finaly closed them out as we pulled out the win. Larkin had 3 hits and 3 RBI and Stillwell had 3 hits.
Final Score: Marlins 8 Expos 6



MAY 16TH: Marlins (18-22) Vs Expos (23-18)
Saunders pitched into the eigth and was ultimatly responsible for 4 runs scoring but I left him in too long. In the end it didn't matter as Jeff Fassero held us to just 3 hits en route to a complete game shutout. I really wanted this one too.
Final Score: Expos 5 Marlins 0

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MAY 17TH: Marlins (18-23) At Rockies (10-32)
Chuck Smith would leave in the 7th with a 4-2 lead. Our bullpen would proceed to blow the lead and then lose it in extra innings in a total nut punch game that just........fuggg. We can't lose games like this. DAMNIT!!!
Final Score: Rockies 5 Marlins 4 (10 Innings)



MAY 18TH: Marlins (18-24) At Rockies (11-32)
Phil Leftwich threw a masterfull complete game, 1 run effort and we blasted Rolondo Arojo and the Rockies pen for 8 runs in the first two innings en route to an easy win. Dave Nilson went 3-3 with a HR and 4 RBI. Hulse, Nunnaly and Cordero each had 2 hits, Nunnaly had his first homer.
Final Score: Marlins 10 Rockies 1



MAY 19TH: Marlins (19-24) At Rockies (11-33)
Van Egmond pitched 6 strong innings and left with a 3-2 lead. Assenmacher, in to face specificaly Helton, allowed a game tying HR. It went to extra innings and we pushed one across in the 10th and then Percival closed it out as we snatched victory from the jaws of major letdown and got our second in a row from the Rockies. Shumpert, Nilsson and Nunnally each had 2 hits.
Final Score: Marlins 4 Rockies 3 (10 Innings)




MAY 19TH: INJURY & ROSTER NEWS
Jeff Ballard has a shoulder strain that will keep him out for at least a month. We call up left handed reliver Chris Eddy to take his place.



MAY 20TH: Marlins (20-24) At Rockies (11-34)
Ryan Bowen threw 6+ scoreless innings and our bullpen did a fine job as we won a rather ho hum easy affair. Nunnaly had 3 hits and JT Snow had a 2 run homer.
Final Score: Marlins 5 Rockies 1

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MAY 21ST: Marlins (21-24) Vs Pirates (18-27)
Saunders left after 6 up 4-3 but Hillman allowed the tying run in the 7th. Pete Walker allowed them the go ahead run in the tenth and they would close it out. SON OF A BITCH!! We need to win every game we can against teams like this.
Final Score: Pirates 5 Marlins 4 (10 Innings)



MAY 22ND: Marlins (21-25) Vs Pirates (19-27)
Funky monkey balls batman, what a game. Chuck Smith left after 7 in a 3-3 tie. Gary Buckels allowed a 2 run homer to Greg Colbrun to make it 5-3 Pirates. We would get a run in the bottom of the 8th but leave the bases loaded and still trailed by a run. In the bottom of the ninth off of Stan Belinda, JT Snow would hit an infield single to tie it and then with the bases juiced and 2 out, Gene Larkin laced a game winning single. What a victory that we NEEDED. Nilsson and Shumpert each homered.
Final Score: Marlins 6 Pirates 5



MAY 23RD: Marlins (22-25) Vs Pirates (19-28)
Leftwich went 7 innings but gave up 5 runs and Jon Lieber had his way with us as it looked like we sleptwalk thru this one. Horible series for us as we dropped 2 of 3 games. Bleh. We head to New York with the need to make a major statement against the Mets.
Final Score: Pirates 5 Marlins 1



MAY 24TH: OFF DAY

[Suicane]

MAY 25TH: Marlins (22-26) At Mets (31-18)
Van Egmond gave up 3 first inning runs and despite settling down we never got back in it. Mark Gubicza threw a complete game and pretty much shut us down. Hulse and Snow each had 2 hits. I fear a slide is starting and I need to figure out how to reverse it.
Final Score: Mets 3 Marlins 1



MAY 26TH: Marlins (22-27) At Mets (32-18)
Bowen pitched a fine game, giving up 4 runs and going 8 innings but Sid Fernandez held us at bay outside of a Vinny Castilla homer as we lost a tight one. Bleh.
Final Score: Mets 4 Marlins 2



MAY 27TH: Marlins (22-28) At Mets (33-18)
What a wild game. We led 3-0 in the 5th when Saunders imploded as usual. Heredia came in and allowed 2 inherited runners to score and it was tied at 3. In the bottom of the 6th the Mets scored 4 runs off of Heredia, Asenmacher and Walker, just a clown car of pitching and they led 7-4. But we tied it in the top of the 7th thanks in part to a 2 run homer from Nilsson. We then took the lead in the 8th on a Larkin pinch hit single. Percival got a 4 out save and that's all she wrote. A real nice win but I would loved to see heart like that in one of the first 2 games of the series. Husle and Snow had 2 hits.
Final Score: Marlins 8 Mets 7



MAY 28TH: OFF DAY



MAY 28TH: ROSTER & TRANSACTION NEWS
Tony Saunders is heading down to AAA. I just can't deal with his wildness anymore. I really hate to do it but I can't watch another 6 walk game and constant trouble. Frank Seminare is called up to take his rotation spot.

[Suicane]

MAY 29TH: Marlins (23-28) At Expos (31-21)
Chuck Smith would go just 5 innings, leaving down 2-1 but we would rally to go up 5-3 and Percival, despite allowing a Delino Deshields homer in the ninth, would hold on for the save as we one a nice one off of Jeff Fassero and Les Expos. Terry Shumpert had 2 homers and 3 RBI
Final Score: Marlins 5 Expos 4


MAY 29TH: INJURY NEWS
Wil Cordero has a shoulder strain but is only expected to miss 4 days. We won't make any roster moves.



MAY 30TH: Marlins (24-28) At Expos (31-22)
Leftwich went into the 7th tied 1-1 and I left him in too long as he surrened 2 runs. Our pen gave up 2 more and that was all she wrote against Randy Tomlin who held us in check all evening long.
Final Score: Expos 5 Marlins 1

[Suicane]

MAY 30TH: ROSTER & TRANSACTION NEWS
A few weeks ago Nilsson became arbitration eligable and preliminary talks with his agent put his asking price in the $2 Million dollar a year range. We just can't afford that. I hesitantly started floating his name out there in trade talks and got quite the response. Among all the teams, the Tigers seemed to be offering the sweetest deal and we've been in discussions for a little bit now and today we finaly hammered out a deal.

Trade:

We Send
-----------------
C  Dave Nilsson		25	83/89	$146K/ARB95


To The Detroit Tigers In Exchange For
-----------------
2B Fernando Vina	26	74/75	$146K/ARB97
3B Phil Nevin		24	78/79	$146K/ARB97
C  Chad Kreuter		30	73/73	$186K/3YRS
SP Pat Ahearne		25	72/80	$8K/ARB97
RP Alan Embree		25	76/82	$14K/ARB96
$2,500,000 Cash

I didn't wanna trade Nilsson but I really had no option. He's hitting .288 with 9 HR on the year and is really blossoming. Minimum I was gonna have to invest $1.5Million in after the season and I decided I just couldn't do that. What we got in return for him though I think is good.

Nevin can play at 3B and 1B and will play 1B against lefties and spell both Snow and Castilla at times vs righties.

Vina is a solid young 2B who gives us the flexability to play Sanchez, when he returns, at SS from time to time against righties to spell Cordero.

Kreuter is a veteran catcher and he'll backup John Flaherty who steps into the everyday role.

Ahearne is in the same mold of the pitchers we've been stockpiling, good control and endurance, a finesse pitcher, he'll go to AAA but could be called upon any time.

And finaly Alan Embree, a really good left hander who we envision being our main lefty out of the pen for a long time. For now he'll take Gary Buckels spot in the pen but that gives us 4 lefties and only 3 righties in the pen, so we'll see how that works out.

Add on the $2.5M cash they sent us and there was really no way I could say. Everyone I received in the deal is signed thru next year so that gives us some slight stabality.
I just hope the team doesn't see this as waving the white flag cause I really want this club to get to .500.

With the new additions, Kurt Stillwell and Keith Kessinger are down to AAA.

Also wanna note that Chad Curtis is no longer our everyday RF against right handers as Larkin and Nunnally are splitting time doing that duty.

My new lineups look like this

RIGHT HANDED			LEFT HANDED
1. LF Tom Goodwin		1. CF Tom Goodwin
2. CF David Hulse		2. 2B Terry Shumpert
3. 1B JT Snow			3. RF Chad Curtis
4. 3B Vinny Castilla		4. 1B Phil Nevin
5. RF Jon Nunnally		5. 3B Vinny Castilla
6. 2B Fernando Vina		6. SS Wil Cordero
7. SS Wil Cordero		7. RF Gene Larkin
8. C  John Flaherty		8. C  John Flaherty

When Sanchez comes back he goes back to 2B and the 2 hole. And of course Krueter will see action spelling Flaherty.
Larkin will also see time as the RF against righties.

[Suicane]

MAY 31ST: Marlins (24-29) At Expos (32-22)
Van Egmond left in the 6th with the score tied at 2-2 and 2 runners on, Embree came in and allowed them both to score, WELCOME TO FLORIDA!! Eddy would allow 2 more runs in the 8th and Chris Nabholz did a fine job against us as we close out the month on a down note. Castilla & Larkin each had 2 hits.
Final Score: Expos 6 Marlins 3

[Suicane]

MAY STATUS REPORT
Record: 24-30 (15.5 Games Back, 9.5 Wild Card)
Profit: +$400,000

1995 Batting        G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Vina, Fernando     51  .258   194   50   7   2   1   13   16    5   1   21   27  .330  .318
Snow, J.T.         46  .304   158   48  10   1   2   13   30    0   0   18   23  .418  .362
Nevin, Phil        49  .243   189   46   7   0   7   14   43    0   0   26   20  .392  .299
Goodwin, Tom       50  .216   194   42   1   1   0   21   31   16   8   26    7  .232  .293
Sanchez, Rey       34  .296   142   42   6   2   0    7   12    2   3   18    8  .366  .329
Hulse, David       49  .248   165   41   1   1   0   13   26   16   8   24   12  .267  .308
Cordero, Wil       49  .240   167   40   9   3   0   14   31    3   1   16   16  .329  .298
Castilla, Vinny    43  .216   176   38   6   1   7    4   31    1   0   15   28  .381  .240
Larkin, Gene       48  .327   101   33   4   0   0    9   10    2   1    9   15  .366  .378
Curtis, Chad       41  .228   127   29   7   2   2   14   26    7   1   17   12  .362  .308
Stillwell, Kurt    30  .295    78   23   3   0   1    4   14    2   5    6   10  .372  .329
Shumpert, Terry    32  .190   100   19   2   1   3    7   23    5   1   12    8  .320  .255
Nunnally, Jon      38  .265    68   18   2   1   1   12   14    4   2    7    6  .368  .383
Flaherty, John     27  .217    60   13   4   0   1    7   10    0   1    5    5  .333  .299
Santovenia, Nelson  4  .250     4    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .250  .400
Beltre, Esteban     1 1.000     1    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0 1.000 1.000
Kreuter, Chad       3  .000     8    0   0   0   0    1    3    0   0    0    0  .000  .111
Kessinger, Keith    7  .000     9    0   0   0   0    1    3    0   0    1    1  .000  .091

1995 Pitching           IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Leftwich, Phil        71.2  3.01   11  11   4   4   0   41   21 11.80
Smith, Chuck          67.1  4.14   11  11   5   2   0   51   30 13.63
Saunders, Tony        65.1  5.23   11  11   1   4   0   58   35 14.60
Van Egmond, Tim       63.0  6.00   11  11   1   6   0   31   26 13.14
Bowen, Ryan           62.1  4.91   10  10   3   6   0   45   25 12.13
Heredia, Gil          31.0  2.90   34   0   2   0   0   24    9  9.58
Hillman, Eric         24.2  5.11   27   0   2   2   1    6   15 16.42
Walker, Pete          24.0  4.50   30   0   1   3   0   12   12 13.50
Embree, Alan          24.0  4.50   25   0   0   2   0   14   10 14.25
Ballard, Jeff         24.0  4.50   25   0   0   3   1   11   13 15.00
Percival, Troy        20.1  2.21   23   0   2   0  13   18    4  7.52
Assenmacher, Paul     15.0  9.60   26   0   2   0   1   13   10 20.40
Ahearne, Pat           7.0  5.14    1   1   0   0   0    5    2 12.86
Buckels, Gary          5.2  4.76    8   0   1   0   0    3    3 17.47
Eddy, Chris            5.0  5.40    5   0   0   0   0    3    5 16.20
Seminara, Frank        1.0  9.00    2   0   0   0   0    1    1 36.00

AROUND THE LEAGUE IN MAY

[Matt]

I did end up starting a franchise in MLB 08. Funny thing is that I bought the game because Coder said it was good. Then, with work, I never had a chance to really get in to it past the "road to the show".
I'm loving my franchise right now. I took over the Blue Jays (obviously) and we're 2.5 games up on the Red Sox and Yanks as the end of August nears. I'm mostly simming games and playing a few. Hopefully we can pull this out, without going broke.

[Suicane]

Trade for Peavy!!

[Suicane]

JUNE 1ST: Marlins (24-30) Vs Mets (34-21)
Ryan Bowen pitched a masterfull game, going into the 7th with a 3-2 lead against Bret Saberhagen, our bullpen made it stand up capped off by a Percival save as we won an impressive ballgame. Shumpert homered and had all 3 RBI.
Final Score: Marlins 3 Mets 2



JUNE 2ND: Marlins (25-30) Vs Mets (34-22)
Seminara pitched well, going 6.2 Innings and giving up just 2 runs (1 earned) but left trailing 2-1. Our pen gave up a couple of runs and Pete Schourek was fabulous for the Mets as they evened the series. Shumpert had 2 hits.
Final Score: Mets 4 Marlins 1



JUNE 3RD: Marlins (25-31) Vs Mets (35-22)
Chuck Smith went 7.1 Innings and ultimately gave up 4 earned runs due to Embree allowing a hit. Terry Mullholand kept as bay again as our bats were silent and they take 2 of 3 from us. Flaherty and Nevin had solo homers.
Final Score: Mets 4 Marlins 2



JUNE 4TH: OFF DAY



JUNE 4TH: INURY & ROSTER NEWS
Vinny Castilla has a broken knuckle and will miss about 5 days. We don't DL him but we do send Pitcher Chris Eddy down to AAA and recall Infielder Kurt Stillwell. Phil Nevin will see most of the at bats at 3rd base.

[Suicane]

JUNE 5TH: Marlins (25-32) At Braves (41-17)
Leftwich gave up 2 runs over 5 innings and our bullpen did a good job but Greg Maddux threw a complete game 1 hitter as our offense is now really struggling against top flight pitching.
Final Score: Braves 3 Marlins 1



JUNE 6TH: Marlins (25-33) At Braves (42-17)
Van Egmond went 4 and left down 5-0. Our defense led to 4 more unearned runs as we stunk up the joint. Curtis had 2 hots, Cordero had 2 hits and a his first major league homer.
Final Score: Braves 11 Marlins 1



JUNE 6TH: INJURY & ROSTER NEWS
Rey Sanchez is ready to come off the DL. We send Kurt Stillwell down to AAA.



JUNE 7TH: Marlins (25-34) At Braves (43-17)
Bowen, Walker and Hillman combined to give up 7 runs, Smoltz only gave 1 as threw a complete game to complete the sweep for Atlanta. We're now 10 games under .500 and it's not looking pretty.
Final Score: Braves 7 Marlins 1



JUNE 7TH: ROSTER NEWS
I'm making a big gamble and sending Shawn Green and Carl Everett down to AA for awhile, i'm not happy at all with their progression and hope that this could right them. Or it could totaly mess them up. I dunno.

[Suicane]

JUNE 7TH: 1995 AMATUER DRAFT

Round 1: CF Carlos Beltran	18	64/85
Round 2: SP Roger Deago		17	48/93
Round 3: C  Ben Petrick		18	61/73
Round 4: 1B Lyle Overbay	18	55/77
Round 5: RF Kosuke Fukudome	18	54/77
Round 6: RP Winston Abreu	18	51/79

Not much to say, even with the second overall pick. It came down to Beltran or Andruw Jones and Beltran had the better overall numbers from both sides.

Deago is a long term prospect obviously.

Petrick, Overbay and Fukudome are all guys i'm hoping can be contributors in 2 or 3 years.

[Suicane]

JUNE 7TH: ROSTER NEWS
Trade:

We Send
-----------------
3B Vinny Castilla	27	79/79	$50K/ARB95
RF Chad Curtis		26	77/77	$146K/ARB95
RP Chris Eddy		25	70/73	$8K/ARB98
SP Lance Davis		18	51/87	$5K/ARB98

To The San Fransisco Giants In Exchange For
-----------------
3B Bill Mueller		24	73/77	$12K/ARB96
CF Darren Lewis		27	79/79	$390K/3YRS
RP Salomon Torres	23	72/75	$8K/ARB98
$1,300,000 Cash

What i get out of this deal is essentialy time. Mueller and Lewis are locked up thru next season and the year after respectivly. I gave up a very good long term SP prospect for a more ready reliever. And of course I got some cash.

Castilla was gonna want over $1 Million and we would of won a lower arbitration but I couldn't risk investing too much money in him when he hasn't produced at that level. Curtis was a malcontent who didn't wanna be here and would only be a platoon player once Green arrived anyway. The Pitchers I didn't mind giving up cause I really like Torres' arm and can see him being essential in our pen next year and beyond. The cash is a big plus no doubt.

Mueller is my everyday 3rd basemen and 3 hole hitter. Lewis will play CF everyday.

[Suicane]

JUNE 8TH: Marlins (25-35) At Expos (37-24)
Frank Seminara left after 5 innings down 5-3 and that's the way it would stay as Randy Tomlin and Jeff Shaw would hold us at bay. Our 6th straight loss, now 11 games under 500 and I fear sinking fast. Lewis, Shumpert and Flaherty each had 2 hits.
Final Score: Expos 5 Marlins 3



JUNE 9TH: Marlins (25-36) At Expos (38-24)
Chuck Smith didn't make it thru 4 innings before giving up 7 runs. We scored alot but they scored more as our staff got torched. Larkin had 3 hits including a homer, Sanchez & Flaherty each had 2 hits.
Final Score: Expos 12 Marlins 9



JUNE 10TH: Marlins (25-37) At Expos (39-24)
Leftwich would pitch into the 7th and leave with a 2-1 lead. We added 2 runs but Heredia gave up solo homers to Matt Stairs and Shane Andrews in the 8th. Percival would load the bases in the ninth but get out of it as we hang on to salvage a game in the series. Lewis had 3 hits, Snow had a homer.
Final Score: Marlins 4 Expos 3