Base Ball 11

Spring training begins with the wide-open promise that accompanies each new season. As the exhibition games commence, you tweak your lineup, trying out newcomers in different slots and attempting to account for off-season losses, including a Cy Young Award-winning pitcher who left for greener pastures. Then you receive a message all managers fear: your owner, who is tight with cash, demands a playoff spot and has little patience for team rebuilding. He wants you to produce a winner now.

April:

The season progresses as spring training did, full of missed opportunities and struggles to build team chemistry. An injury to your best outfielder puts him on the disabled list for four weeks, forcing you to juggle your lineup when setbacks extend his recovery time. A key starting pitcher acquired in a blockbuster trade fizzles when his breaking ball loses its snap, putting your job on the chopping block. Looking through the list of available free agents, you notice an aging player who is past his prime but whose leadership skills could boost your flagging clubhouse. You offer him a basic one-year contract. He accepts, happy to be playing again.

May:

Your lineup and pitching rotation intact once more, you now contend with the daily dilemmas brought on by the vagaries of hot and cold streaks: Do you bench a player whose performance begins to tail off, or do you stick with him and hope he turns it around? What if that player is your star third baseman, who signed a very expensive contract during the off-season? And how do you handle a rising star whose popularity drops when he’s suspended after an on-field fight?

There are no simple answers to these questions, but the ability to pull up side-by-side player comparisons gives you the opportunity to make some informed decisions. You write up notes for each player based on what you see and set reminders so you can prompt yourself to revisit your thoughts later in the season.

June:

The team’s first — and hopefully only — prolonged slump of the season accompanies the start of summer. Six games into a losing streak, you leave a starting pitcher in too long and he gives up an eighth-inning grand slam that seals yet another defeat. You turn to your Scouting Director for help. His team of scouts assembles reports on key players; that information proves vital in making decisions. You swap a few players in your lineup and rearrange your starting rotation, hoping to ignite a spark.

Meanwhile, the annual First-Year Player Draft gets underway, with prospects from more than 1,700 colleges and over 17,000 high schools available. The loss of that Cy Young winner still smarts, but as compensation, you received the top pick for the team that signed him. You make careful decisions throughout the 50-round draft, keeping in mind the fact that many draftees never even get playing time at the highest level, and few of those make enough of an impact to earn spots on a big-league roster.

However, that doesn’t stop your draftees from demanding signing bonuses, particularly those chosen in the first two rounds. Negotiations can be tricky: a draftee might snub you entirely and sign elsewhere, or even decide to go to college, if they were drafted out of high school. First- and second-round picks who don’t sign a contract earn you an extra selection next year as compensation.

July:

Your fortunes begin to turn around. An eight-game winning streak puts you within striking distance of first place. Your key starting pitcher, whose rise through the minor league farm system was overseen by you, produces two sterling games. That star third baseman earns back-to-back Player of the Week honors, capping those games with a ninth-inning, game-winning double in front of a cheering home crowd. Your closer converts all nine of his save opportunities during the month, putting those two walk-off homers in May behind him.

August:

The dog days of summer bring you a tie for first place, neck-and-neck with your toughest division rival. Sifting through the voluminous statistics at your disposal, you notice something interesting: your back-up second baseman has fared much better against right-handed pitchers than the starter, despite the fact that both bat right-handed. Going with your gut, you start him during a key three-game series and he drills four home runs. Perhaps a platoon at second base is in order.

And you discover something else about that back-up: in a late-inning situation, during a close game, you decide to send him home as he rounds third on a shallow single to right field. Knowing the outfielder’s arm isn’t very strong, you hope your runner’s average speed is enough to allow him to score. You’re right.

September:

The race for the division title heats up. In your league, one division leader has a 15-game edge, all but ensuring a playoff spot. The other division is closer, while yours continues to swing back and forth. Your team seems to click as the month draws to a close. A seven-game winning streak, punctuated by your best starting pitcher’s masterful one-hit shutout of your division rival, gives you a two-game edge heading into the final weekend.

One of your top minor league prospects, who you summoned when rosters expanded on September 1, delivers two key hits during the streak. You also uncover something intriguing about him: during a lopsided win for your team, you give that prospect some late-inning pitching, figuring he can’t do much damage while giving your bullpen some rest. He walks two batters and allows a hit, but he also strikes out one and shows poise in working his way out of a bases-loaded jam with a lone run allowed. Maybe you’ll work on converting him into a much-needed middle reliever during the off-season.

October:

The final series of the year, against your division’s last-place team, turns out to be free of drama, thankfully. You sweep them in three blow-outs, securing the division title and allowing you to focus on the playoffs. Round one breezes by in a three games to one victory, putting you in the League Championship Series against your arch-rival.

Down two games to none, your team limps home for the crucial middle three games of the series. You take two of the three as your line-up comes alive with timely hitting. Now you face the daunting task of taking games six and seven on your opponent’s home turf, but you pull off the feat, a 12-3 laugher capping the series.

Moving on to the World Series against the other league’s champion, game one sees your star third baseman go down with a devastating injury while fielding a sharply-hit ball. He’s out until next year, but his teammates soldier on. His back-up provides key support to your hitting attack, and your pitchers excel in their starting and relief roles. The teams split the first two games, but the next three belong to your club, ending a 20-year championship drought. You had recorded all of the games in the series for posterity, allowing you to relive those thrilling moments any time you want, complete with the roar of the crowd and animations charting the trajectories of batted balls.

There’s little time to bask in the glory, however. You have contracts to negotiate, free agents to peruse and pursue, and strategies to formulate. Already your opponents are crying: “Wait ‘til next year!”