Full of Promise, Some Seasons Just Don't Compute

Let's face it -- we've all been there.  The season begins with such promise (when everyone is 0-0) but the wheels quickly come off the cart.  Suddenly, all eyes point to next year and rare wins become "moral victories."

A few months ago, one of our Diamond Mind Online customers entered the following brilliant post into our message boards.  Some of you may have seen this already (it got 36 replies), but I felt it a worthy “reprint” to our blog.  Thanks to cdkasdin for his insights and realism.  See the original post here 

1.  OPTIMISM...I've spent hours studying the numbers, come up with a good strategy, drafted my team to fit my park, and tweaked it accordingly to match up with the other parks and teams in my division. My upgrades are perfectly mapped out. I am ready. I feel good, I definitely have the best team in my division, and with a few lucky breaks I'll walk away with the title.

2. INVINCIBILITY...Opening Day. My team puts together a solid 7-2 win. Clutch hits, good pitching, flawless fielding. I could win 120 games. What's the single season win record for this game anyway?

3. ADVERSITY...My team stumbles to a 3-7 start but a couple of my key players have been slow out of the gate. Once they turn it around, the rest of the league better watch out, I am going to run off like 15 games in a row and never look back.

4. DOUBT...3-7 turns into 12-18 as my "ace" has the highest ERA among my starters, my cleanup hitter has a .600 OPS against righties and my 3B has a .897 fielding percentage. Maybe I just need to give my "ace" an extra day of rest, switch around my 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup, and pull my 3B for a defensive replacement in late innings?

5. ANGER...The wheels have come off as my team drops 7 in a row, including 5 straight 1-run games in which my expensive Closer blows 3 saves. I just got shut-out by Mike Mason and Red Dooin just hit a walkoff pinch-hit HR. No lead is safe. At this point I hate seeing my team take an early lead in a game because it will make it all the more painful when the bullpen blows it after an error and 3 straight 2-out hits. At this stage it's not a good idea to be anywhere in the same vacinity as me while I am watching the game; computers, pets and children are not safe. During this stage I have often pondered hurling my laptop to the ground or smashing it to pieces with a hammer.

6. DENIAL...My team cannot possibly be this bad. I spent so much time putting it together. There is no way all the other owners in the league are better than me. I am 12 games out but have had the absolute worst luck in the history of the game. It's just bad luck, it'll turn around.

7. PANIC...We're at the 81 game mark and I am still hovering around the worst record in the league. Changes must be made. I am now looking for any reason to cut a player. Strikeout with the bases loaded, your gone. 0-5, cut him. Bad start lasting only 3 innings with 6 earned runs, I can't click "search pitchers" fast enough. Oh, and I always take out a max loan in the process of finding a replacement at this stage.

8. CONCESSION...At 100 games and in the cellar I finally realize and concede that my drafting strategy did not work. Getting all of those right-handed hitters because I played in a park that favored them left me vulnerable to righty pithing. Hoping that my 1B suddenly figures out how to field was a pipe dream. Getting a Closer whose seemingly good sim numbers were not supported by his mediocre MLB career was foolish. I have learned from my mistakes and I will never make them again.

9. RESIGNATION...Although my team made a nice run by winning 10 of 12 late, I am still 10 games back and resigned to the fact that I will have a losing record. My next team will be better.

And it begins all over again at Stage 1.

- Dayne 

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