Mordecai: A Hardball Dynasty World

Season 20 Seniority Update

2011-03-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Our rollover into Season 20 resulted in just 1 new owner into Mordecai. Welcome to the world Fervus!

Here is an updated seniority list for the world:

Owner	Franchise	Seasons
brian2470	Boston (NL East)	20
dyuen	Colorado Springs (AL West)	20
jimrome76	Texas (NL South)	20
meech11	Helena (AL West)	20
smoelheim	Rochester (AL East)	20
trancefusion	Toronto (AL North)	20
mbooker	Vancouver (NL West)	19
nosferatu	Austin (NL South)	19
Iceman67	Charlotte (AL East)	18
tony23	Tacoma (AL West)	16
wonderin32	Kansas City (AL North)	16
johncfremont	St Louis (NL North)	15
dwhit34	Syracuse (AL East)	14
jeclapton	Iowa City (NL East)	14
plague	Fargo (AL North)	12
mohawkman	Atlanta (NL South)	11
rbedwell	Dover (AL East)	11
badercubed	New York (AL North)	10
jemaurer	Philadelphia (NL East)	8
Ahsowhat	New Orleans (AL South)	7
CoachRed	Richmond (NL South)	7
litigator01	Iowa City (NL North)	7
drknow28	Oakland (AL West)	5
eryanf	Pittsburgh (NL North)	3
bfkfraser	Salem (NL West)	2
cincysteve	Nashville (AL South)	2
dockellis70	San Francisco (NL West)	2
frank_white	Albuquerque	2
jamessun	Richmond (AL South)	2
msarg	Indianapolis (NL East)	2
vhoward	Scranton (NL North)	2
Oli35	Florida (AL South)	1

cincysteve Overhauls Nashville Amish Electricians, Wins WS Title!

2011-03-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to cincysteve for overcoming incredible odds to win the Mordecai Season 19 World Series! He was a new owner to Mordecai this season, taking over a team that had last made the playoffs 17 seasons earlier, a team that was sub-.500 for the previous 5 seasons, a team that had only cracked .500 4 times in 18 seasons. Everything was working against him... but as soon as he took the team over, he set out on a mission to immediately better the team. 11 trades involving 36 players later, he managed the team to a 91-71 record and won the franchise's first ever divisional championship. But was that good enough? Absolutely not. In the postseason, he faced Fargo, a perennial playoff team (12 appearances in last 14 seasons)... recently resurgent Ottawa (96+ wins in 3 straight seasons)... defending World Series champ Dover... and finally two-time NL Pennant Winner Iowa City.

On top of it all, this was done in a very competitive world, and done without signing a bunch of overpriced free agents to exorbitant contracts, ruining the franchise for several seasons to come.

Congrats on an amazing run, cincysteve!

Mordecai Owners: Where We're From

2011-01-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a map showing all known location of HBD owners. If you're missing from the map, please sitemail smoelheim to get added!

View HBD Mordecai Owners in a larger map

Know That Owner: Joe Bader

2011-01-24T17:24:00.001-08:00

Okay, let’s get this over with. For starters, my name is Joe Bader, I am 28 and I reside in a suburb of sunny Rochester, NY. Although I have never meet our fearless commish, we do reside closely and surprisingly share some mutual acquaintances. My username, badercubed, stems from the fact that I am the 3^rd Joe Bader in my family. For the record; I will not be passing the namesake along. I have a degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Civil Engineering Tech and I am proof they give out diplomas like candy. I have had relative HDB success making playoff teams, but not playoff winning teams. Hopefully Ottawa changes my fortunes. As for sports teams, I follow the Red Sox religiously, the Bills dejectedly and the ‘Cuse enthusiastically. Growing up, I played hockey goalie, lacrosse long-stick and soccer goalie. Sadly, I never made it to the professional ranks, although I did win a couple of intramural championships while competing against other “tough” RIT competition. Like cincysteve, I pretty much stick to golf these days. However, I do play indoor soccer and recently moved from the goal to the field. So, if you find me absent from the league, I probably had a heart attack. I have been married for about a year and a half, and I can honestly say it has been a blast. She has grown used to my obsession and my “fake fantasy baseball” commitment, allowing me to check my lineups and such while on our honeymoon. I work as a project manager/superintendent for a heavy highway and building contractor and I enjoy the flexibility of my work. On the side, I can place and stamp concrete as well as other miscellaneous concrete work. Cash only please.

2011-01-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

ERYANF’s Draft Grades for Season 19

Important Note: I focused almost exclusively on the first and second round picks, so if you grabbed some diamond in the rough in the 4th or 5th and I missed it, I apologize. To evaluate the picks I used my own draft board (scouting budget 18 mil both HS and College). In the instance where a player did not appear on my draft board, I used my advanced scout (only 14 mil, so keep that in mind). I also factored in ratings such as health and make up, in determining the value of the player. In addition, I factored in whether or not a player had been signed and that player’s likelihood to sign. In the instance when my scouts did not see a player and he had not been signed, I could not evaluate that pick because I cannot see any ratings. Also note that I have no idea which players each owner could or could not see on their individual draft board, so I am limited to evaluating these players relative to the players that were drafted around them. Please keep in mind these are my off-the-cuff thoughts about these picks and are meant for fun. If you disagree with my evaluation, please do not take it personally. Ultimately this is just my meaningless opinion. Ok, have fun and good luck the rest of the season.

Grades

ALB Kings- Grade A: Three picks in the first round all three picks were very good value. Grabbing catcher Pedro Johnson with the 24th pick was one of the best picks in the draft. Solid defensive catchers that are durable and can swing the bat are like gold in HBD.

ATL Redhawks- Grade C+: Didn’t have a pick before 49th. Grabbing 3rd baseman J.P. Figureoa looks like a solid pick at 49, but after that there isn’t much to talk about in this draft class.

AUS Death Dealers- Grade B: Only one pick in the top 85, but got very good value with that one pick. Diory Quinones promises to be one of the best all-around 2nd/CFers in Mordecai. (I think he will ultimately be better suited to play 2nd.) He will probably only need one season in the minors before he’s near his peak development and after that the Death Dealers will be able to plug him in at 2nd/CF for the next 10 seasons. Also got decent value out of the 87th pick with CFer Harville.

BOS Dirt Dogs- Grade B+: Very close to an A- minus here, but Norm Gold was probably a slight reach at #3. There were still a couple potential superstars still on the board at #4. Nevertheless Gold is nothing the sneeze at. I also really like Reilly with the #36. I had him #23 on my board.

BUR Progressives- Grade A: Had four picks in the first 73 and got good value for each one.

CHA Scorpions- Grade B-: Only had one pick in the first 125 (#17), pitcher Don Bichette. He’s a solid, but not spectacular #17 pick, about what one should expect from the middle of the first round.

COL Micheladas- Grade A-: Got the second best position player in the draft Alvin Green at #5. Then followed that up by grabbing potential stud DH Ned Young #37. Grabbed another DH with good hitting ratings after that and even grabbed a potential set up B guy with the #71 pick. This grade would have been an A but drafting back-to-back DHs knocks the grade down slightly.

DOV Diamonds- Grade Incomplete: Hasn’t signed a single of his top five picks. His pick of Jake Shields (One of the best MMA fighters in the world) at #33 could be the steal of the draft if he can get him to sign.

ELP Evil Empire- Grade B-: Didn’t have a pick before #68. However, with his first three picks he did manage to grab three guys that could eventually make there way to the MLs and possibly contribute in a supporting role. No stars here, but decent value given how low the picks were.

FAR Blizzard- Grade A-: Had six picks in the top 100 and got good value out of at least 5 of them. I particularly liked the pick of Brian Gates, who I had rated about 10 spots higher than where he went at #21.

FLA Eagles- Grade B+: Had three picks in the first 55. Made a fairly mundane pick at #31 with James Robinson (there were some players I liked significantly better still on the board). But then made up for it when he got Matthew Simmons at 54 (I had Simmons rated #37 on my board).

Helena Sky-Walkers- Grade Incomplete: I can’t see the ratings of his first pick and he hasn’t signed any of his draft picks from the first five rounds.

IND BPats- Grade B: Four picks in the first 100. None of them particularly good value, but none of them were reaches. Just solid.

IA Harvesters- Grade C-?: Drafting Greenwood at #29 was probably the biggest stretch of the First round. There were about 20-25 players I had rated higher on my draft board. I can’t see the ratings of his sandwich pick so that is why I put the ? by the grade.

KC BBQ’s- Grade C: Three picks in the between 41 and 76 and it is not clear anyone of the three will develop into a contributing MLer.

NAS Amish Electricians- Grade incomplete: I can’t see his top three picks. It looks like he gambled and went pretty aggressive in his pursuit of picks with questionable signing potential. If cinncysteve is ultimately able to sign these guys he could end up with one of the best draft classes. (Cinncysteve, trade chat me if you sign these guys and I’ll update your grade.)

NO Snuggly-Bears- Grade B: Only one draft pick of note, Tim Gaudin, but he is potential stud #1 starter. Exactly what you would expect from the #2 overall pick.

OAK Pitbulls- Grade B-: Two picks in the top 42. His first pick at #13 left something to be desired. There were several more talented players still on the board and if you are going to be taking a RP this early in the draft he should be a dominant one and Quinton Perry doesn’t project to be dominant. The Pitbulls pick at #41 was pretty solid, so that is what helps avoid a C+ grade.

OTT Hat-Tricks- Grade incomplete: Can’t see the ratings of the Hat-Tricks only pick in the top 116.

PHI Quakers- Grade B+: Royce Henson is solid pick at #20 and Von Nathan is good value at #65.

PIT Phantoms- Grade B+: Pitcher Russell Craig may have been the better pick at #10 (actual pick was Felix Everidge), it’s a close call. Reese Hurst is pretty good value at #15. Jimmy Baker is good value at #60. Kyle Adkinson could also be very good value at #72, but he remains unsigned. If the Phantoms decide to make an offer to Adkinson, draft class could be worthy of an A-.

RIC Rebels- Grade B: The Rebels got good value for their first two picks, particularly #58 Ted Benjamin. Normally this would warrant an A- minus grade, but neither pick has signed. Daal (#6) will eventually sign, but Benjamin says that he probably won’t sign and he’s asking for a ton of money. However, if he does sign the Rebels draft grade will go up accordingly.

ROC Radiation- Grade C+: Had four picks in the top 80 (starting with #16) but only selected one player that is likely to contribute at the ML level and that player (Lenardo Riley) has yet to sign. Even if Lenardo signs, he still isn’t a great value at #16 (I had him rate at #20 on my draft board).

SAL Witchcraft- Grade B: Salem did not start the draft particularly well, picking Clarence Duncan. There were several more talented players available at this pick. However, Salem recovered nicely by picking catcher Roland Moriarty at #35 (I had him rated #22 on my board). Salem also manage to squeeze some value out of their 2nd round pick #99 CF Dee Sherman.

SF Filibusters- Grade B+: San. Fran. had the #1 overall pick and used it wisely by grabbing future Cy Young candidate Zephyr Sanders. San. Fran. also got good value at #55, Joshua Barber. San. Fran.’s grade would have been an A- had they managed to get some value at #70, but Horace Lee is a future AAAA player at best due to his horrible control ratings.

SWB Dunder Mifflins- Grade C+: Scranton had three picks in the top 40, including #12 and #18. Scranton got three players that will all likely play at the ML, but in each of their first three picks, Scranton selected a player that probably belonged further down on the draft board.

STL Pathfinders- Grade B-: Pathfinders had three picks in the top 46 (starting with #25). Similar to Scranton, STL got three players that will likely play in the ML, but also like Scranton each player chosen probably belonged a little further down on the draft board. Sobolewski (#25) was the closest thing they had to a good value pick (I had Sobolewski at #26.)

SYR Esucarys- Grade C: Only had one pick in the top 85 (#8) so SYR needed to come up big with this pick and didn’t. If you are going to grab a set up man with #8 pick in the draft it should be a future Hall-of-Famer. Clem Brock doesn’t look like a future Hall-of-Famer to me, in fact his health rating and his age (22) make it unlikely he’ll reach his projections.

TAC Tools- Grade C+: The Tools’ first pick (Clarence Matthews #14 overall) is my idea of an empty calories prospect. He has a high projected overall ratings, but when you look inside at his individual ratings you realize he isn’t projected to do anything particularly well. (He was #28 on my draft board.) However, the Tools did manage to squeeze some value out of their pick at #62.

TEX War Eagles- Grade A: The War Eagles took a gamble selecting Arthur Herman and his “undecided” status. The gamble paid off. Herman signed for a very reasonable salary and the War Eagles ended up with arguably the best position player in the draft. The War Eagles also managed to get some value with their #56 pick and their #86 pick.

TOR Trancefusion- Grade C: Toronto had two picks in the top 50 (#26 and #50) and both belonged further down on the draft board.

VC Harbormasters- Grade B+: The Harbormasters only had one pick in the top 95 (#19) but they made the most of it by picking D.T. Zimmerman, projects to be a gold glove 3rd baseman or a solid SS with very good power.

Know That Owner: Michael Sargent

2011-01-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Michael Sargeant and my WIS handle is the creatively named msarg. I appreciate the opportunity to join your very active league and Smoelheim's invitation. I own the Indianapolis BPats and this is my third HBD franchise.

I have been a lifelong baseball fan. Growing up in central New Jersey, my father raised my brother and I to be Dodger fans. Almost as long as I can remember the Dodgers have been a major part of my life. My younger brother and I would stay up on the east coast nearly every night just to hear the Dodgers score on the west coast. I still stay up nearly every night following west coast baseball.

While my dream of becoming the GM of the Dodgers hasn't come to fruition, I have a career I truly enjoy. As Executive Director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee(DLCC), I oversee, manage and help fund the Democratic Party's efforts in state legislatures. While the results of the last election were disappointing, it hasn't shaken my resolve that we are working everyday to improve our country.

I am truly blessed to have a beautiful wife and a soon to be 14 month old baby girl. They are the lights of my life and give me more joy and love than I ever thought possible.

I appreciate this opportunity to play HBD with a great group of people and hopefully win my first World Series.

Know That Owner: Brian Kowalski

2010-12-18T20:48:00.000-08:00

Hi fellow HBDers. My name is Brian Kowalski, but you may know me as bfkfraser. I am a lifelong resident of Detroit's northern suburbs. I was born in Warren, MI, grew up in Sterling Heights, MI and currently reside in Fraser, MI. I am 36 years of age, a cancer survivor and have always been a sports fan, particularly hockey, football and baseball. I once was the stranded potential tying run on third in a championship game that my little league team lost. But, I would have to say my favorite sports moment was when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1997.

I went to a local small business school - Walsh College - and have my Bachelor's Degree in Accountancy. I am employed as an accountant for an plastic injection molder that primarily manufacturers auto parts. It has been a tough couple of years as many small companies such as the one I work for were hit hard due to the struggles of the Big 3 that we all know about. Outside of a layoff and medical leave, I have been with the company for about 11 years.

I started playing GD on Wis about 4 or 5 years ago after seeing someone post about it on a message board on another site. I started playing GD and after a few seasons started making the playoffs regularly. Another coach suggested I try HBD, which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, I had to quit HBD when I realized my surgery would coincide with free agency and coach hiring. Now, that I am healthy and working, I have started playing HBD again. I am in 2 worlds - this one plus caray world with many GD coaches.

In addition to WIS and watching sports, I do play some golf, tennis, street hockey (not as often as I did 10 years ago) and am a league bowler. My best game was a 234; my average is 160. I attend Detroit Tiger and Red Wings games occasionally and have traveled to see the Wings play in Columbus, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Chicago.

Know That Owner: Stephen Anderson

2010-12-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

My name is Stephen Anderson (cincysteve). I was born and raised in the Cincinnati area. Huge Cincinnati sports guy. I can remember crying on the couch as Joe Montana threw that freakin last second TD to Taylor when I was in 8^th Grade. I am old enough to remember the joy of the wire-to-wire season for the 1990 Reds, but not old enough to really remember the Big Red Machine. I love sports. Played soccer in college. I have torn both my ACL’s from soccer and basketball. These days I stick to golf and WIS.

I will be turning 36. I graduated from Cincinnati Bible College in 1998. I got married to my wife Laura in 1999. I did youth ministry in Livonia Michigan for five years before moving back to Cincinnati to get my Masters degree for teaching. Wife got pregnant, bought a house, and never finished. I have been working in the online loan industry since 2004. We will do about 50million in business this year. Only 60 employees in my division. I hate my job. I am getting promoted to the head trainer of the group in January. (will still hate my job) Okay, it’s not that bad, but I would rather be teaching. My wife teaches at one of the top private schools in Ohio. Yes I’m bragging :) She is an awesome teacher. I hope to someday finish my degree so I can teach 8^th grade American History and have my summers off with the wife and kids. That is my dream job. I have two wonderful daughters Adyson 5 and Ellasyn 2. I am not looking forward to the dating years.

I’m excited about being in this world with you and look forward to getting to know all of everyone.

Mordecai World Seniority

2010-12-12T20:57:00.001-08:00

Following is a list of all current Mordecai owners, their current city, and their number of years in the world. This is the beginning of the 19th season, so all original owners are listed with 19 seasons, and all new owners are listed with 1 season.

brian2470	Boston (NL East)	19
dyuen	Colorado Springs (AL West)	19
jimrome76	Texas (NL South)	19
meech11	Helena (AL West)	19
smoelheim	Rochester (AL East)	19
trancefusion	Toronto (AL North)	19
mbooker	Vancouver (NL West)	18
nosferatu	Austin (NL South)	18
Oli35	Florida (AL South)	18
Iceman67	Charlotte (AL East)	17
tony23	Tacoma (AL West)	15
wonderin32	Kansas City (AL North)	15
johncfremont	St Louis (NL North)	14
dwhit34	Syracuse (AL East)	13
jeclapton	Iowa City (NL East)	13
plague	Fargo (AL North)	11
mohawkman	Atlanta (NL South)	10
rbedwell	Dover (AL East)	10
badercubed	New York (AL North)	9
jemaurer	Philadelphia (NL East)	7
Ahsowhat	New Orleans (AL South)	6
CoachRed	Richmond (NL South)	6
litigator01	Iowa City (NL North)	6
drknow28	Oakland (AL West)	4
eryanf	Pittsburgh (NL North)	2
bfkfraser	Salem (NL West)	1
cincysteve	Nashville (AL South)	1
dockellis70	San Francisco (NL West)	1
frank_white	Albuquerque	1
jamessun	Richmond (AL South)	1
msarg	Indianapolis (NL East)	1
vhoward	Scranton (NL North)	1

Know That Owner: Robert Baginski

2010-09-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

My name is Bob Baginski and my WIS name is robmb. I have taken over ownership of the Indianapolis franchise for season 18 here in Mordecai. I was born and raised in New Jersey but now live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wife, 12 year old son, 10 year old daughter and 5 pound teacup poodle. I have been in California for 11 years now, and I must say, I do not miss those Northeast winters or humid summers.

My family keeps me very busy as does my job as a manager for a scientific instruments company. I am a huge baseball fan (how about those Giants) and really enjoy baseball simulations such as HBD and SLB. Over the years, I have played many baseball sims including APBA, Strat-O-Matic and Diamond Mind. I have also played several different types of web-based sims based on Diamond Mind and Strat before I discovered WIS. I first started on this site with SLB and more recently have become involved with HBD. I am very impressed with the stable history of ownership here at Mordecai and feel lucky to have this opportunity to pick up a team. I look forward to active participation in many seasons to come. I am sure I will learn a thing or two from all of the collective experience that exists in this world. Thanks again for the opportunity and see you on the field!

Know That Owner: Don Amos

2010-09-13T19:07:00.001-07:00

Hello fellow baseball enthusiasts, I’m Don Amos, also known in the WIS realm as Helamen.
I live in a small community just north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. In case you don’t know
where that is, its 3 hours east of Toronto. I was born and raised in the area, a country kid at
heart, which is why I’m north of Kingston, where I have a small horse farm. For the past 15
years I worked at Canadian Forces Base Kingston for the Resource Centre and as of April of
this year I have recently moved on to a new position as Executive Director for a social service
agency in the area.

I’m a hockey nut, I’ve playing hockey for a number of years in an over 30 league, and my claim
to fame in the league is I once scored 5 goals in one game. When I’m not playing hockey,
I’m coaching it. I have 3 boys and 1 girl who all played hockey and I coached them as they
came up through the system. I now have just 2 playing, one is a goalie (don’t ever let your
child be a goalie, its expensive!!!) and the other is a bruising defenseman. Every year around
September, the 3 of us left playing get all gear up for the season and can’t wait to get on the ice.

When I’m not playing/coaching hockey in the winter, I’m riding my horses in the summer, and
enjoying baseball. My favorite team is the Toronto Blue Jays, and yes they are in the toughest
division in the world, but they are heading in the right direction as a franchise now and maybe
over the next 2 years they may start pushing the Yankees and Red Sox’s for a playoff spot. It
goes without saying that hockey is the number 1 sport in the house, and yes my blood bleeds
blue for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’m a true blue fan, and some year, maybe 20 years from
now, they will win the cup again.

What drew me to WIS is baseball, I’ve have decent success with most WIS leagues I’ve tried.
I played sim league baseball for a few years, and won a couple of championships, I then tried
sim league hockey and won a couple of championships doing that. I’ve tried GD, but not much
success there, and I did okay with Hoops Dynasty. But the crown jewel for me is playing
Hardball Dynasty. I’m currently in 2 worlds, with the other one being Mauer, where I’ve won
2 world series. I enjoy the full aspect of the game, everything from recruiting coaches, signing
free agents, reviewing contracts, and building for the present and future. I’m a stats guy, so
like a junkie, I’m constantly reviewing ratings, and stats, and enjoying every minute of it. I’ve
recently taken over the San Francisco Swordsman franchise, the big club looks good, but the
minor league system needs some help, so my focus will be trying to get the big club in the
playoffs for now.

Know That Owner: Kenny Faulk

2010-08-31T21:20:00.001-07:00

Hello fellow HBDer’s. My name is Kenny Faulk. My screen name on WIS is strikeout26. I took over the Detroit Freaks in the middle of season 16. Dgmbpd left me with a lot to work with and a franchise that has a history of winning. Hopefully in season 18 I will be able to put all of the pieces together. In my short stay, I have found Mordecai to be a wonderful world. It is very stable and has very active owners. I am probably one of the younger HBD owners, as I am only 23.

I am a pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization. I was drafted in the 16^th round of the 2009 draft. I am a lefty that throws 89-91. I throw primarily a fastball and changeup, but will work a slider in every now and then. I signed for a miniscule $3000. Last season, I was selected as conference closer of the year for the Atlantic Sun Conference and was also selected as a NY-Penn league all star last season with the Oneonta Tigers. I started my college career at a small junior college by the name of Andrew College. After my 2 seasons in JUCO I watched the draft pass me by and I signed a scholarship to play at Kennesaw State University. At KSU, I was a history education major. I did not graduate, but as soon as my playing days are over I will finish my degree and become a teacher/coach somewhere. I take a lot of ribbing from my teammates for the amount of time that I spend with HBD. While they are going to bars after the game, I am checking to see how my two teams did. What can I say? LHP are supposed to be a little different, right? Hopefully, I have a long playing career and get a cup of coffee some day.

My hobbies are striking hitters out, playing video games, my UGA dawgs, and HBD. As far as music goes, I listen to everything from classical to rap. I am a huge UGA fan. I would have signed there, but KSU is 10 minutes from my house and I felt that playing at a school that large would hurt my draft status. I hope Georgia can stick it to Jimrome’s Auburn Tigers.

Know That Owner: Mike Prime

2010-02-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

Greetings and salutations fellow Mordecai owners, my name are Mike Prime, and I go by the handle of trancefusion on WIS. I have been in Mordecai since Season 1 and while I have dabbled in a few other worlds none of them turned out to be as much fun as Mordecai. I originally joined WIS to play the football, hockey and baseball sims but soon came to fall in love with the Dynasty leagues. My first passion was with the Gridiron Dynasty where I played 60 seasons and then retired with a 532-310 record across three worlds. My stint in Hardball Dynasty has not been as successful but I still enjoy it and hope to someday have a contender in my Toronto Jays. Speaking of Toronto, that is where I currently reside; I was born on the East Coast of Canada in a small backwoods town in Nova Scotia but moved to Toronto when I was 18 to get a university education. After I finished school I stayed in Toronto and now work for one of North America’s largest banks as an IT Manager where I have been for over 10 years now. In my current role I manage a group or IT analysts who create and support java environments for the banks development team, we currently support well over 2000 programmers both in Canada and offshore.

When I am not working I like playing vids on the xbox360 (Modern Warfare 2 at the moment), spending time at the cottage with my girlfriend, doing some rock climbing and biking or pounding back some beers with my friends while watching sports. Living in Toronto I am obviously a Blue Jays fan but when I was growing up I always followed the Expos and it was sad to see them leave the Great White North for Washington. I seem to be cursed when it comes to cheering for sports franchises, for example the Jays finished 75-87 last year, the KC Chiefs (my favorite football team) finished 4-12, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (my favorite college team) finished 6-6 and to top it all off the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the basement at 19-31-11. Basically any team I cheer for sucks right now. On a positive note it can only go up from here!

When it comes to music I have a wide range of tastes but my favorite genre is trance (as you might have expected from my WIS handle), I pretty much enjoy any electronic music that I can dance to at the clubs. Some of my favorite DJ’s would be Paul Van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, and DJ Tiesto. In my younger years I was very much into metal and hard rock, and then 90’s alternative when I was in university, some of my all time favorites would be GNR, Metallica, Nirvana, Ministry and NiN.

Well that is all I come up with for now, not too exciting but at least it is a glimpse into the life of one of the Mordecai’s originally owners. Good luck to everyone and here is hoping that my Jays can make the playoffs in season 16!!!

Know That Owner: Ben Agnew

2010-02-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

My name is Ben Agnew and I am most likely the youngest person in Mordecai. That is, at least to my current knowledge. I recently turned 23 years. Most of you know me as mohawkman and perhaps even a few of you wonder why I use that as a screen name after seeing the picture of me on this blog. To be honest, I’ve never had a mohawk haircut. My alma mater high school uses the Mohawk Indian as a mascot and I suppose I’ve always been proud of the teams I root for. Perhaps this can be further demonstrated in my Mordecai team mascot, the Redhawks. I am currently a senior at Miami University, home of the Roethlisbergers… err, I mean Redhawks.

That is a kind of joke I like to say because many people around here love to talk about Ben Roethlisberger as if he is the only great thing to come out of the school. This Miami is not to be confused with “The U” in Miami, Florida. No, I hail from Oxford, OH where in 1809, Miami University was established… ten years before Florida broke away from Spanish rule, and 36 years before Florida was a state. For the most part, I enjoy going to school here. Robert Frost once claimed Miami was “the most beautiful college there ever was”. All of the buildings are built of red bricks and really do coordinate beautifully. There are also plenty of trees on campus which make for a stunning autumn landscape.

I will graduate this May with a bachelor of arts in psychology and a minor in neuroscience. I enjoy people and love researching the social aspects of human life. My goal is to go back to school at some point and study judgments and decision making. I haven’t applied for grad school yet because to be honest, I’m a little burnt out on school at the moment and I’d like to take a break from it before I make a run for a higher degree. I’m currently throwing my resume around and hoping for a bite in the job market. I know most people say that once you leave school you’ll never go back, but I also know that plenty of grad students are in their 30’s. I feel like I’m pretty focused on going back after a year or two, and that it’s not a matter of “if” but rather “when”.

As for sports, I am a fanatic of everything. I’m a lifelong Reds fan and enjoy baseball in every aspect. Just like most HBD owners, statistics fascinate me. I’m really hoping that in the next few years the Reds can put things together and make a run for the playoffs. As for other sports, Miami hasn’t had a very good football team since Roethlisberger, and basketball has been nothing short of lethargic since Wally Szczerbiak. Instead, most students, including myself, root for the hockey team. Last year we fell a minute short of winning the national championship (ugh! I was there!). This season we are currently ranked #1. Oh, and when it comes to football, I am a die hard Buckeye. Yeah, yeah… the Big Ten is terrible and SEC schools romped them twice in title games. It honestly just makes me appreciate that magical year in ’02 when they did win it all. Championships aren’t everyday and you gotta enjoy them to the fullest when they occur. I feel like they’ll make a run for it next season. I’d love another shot at the SEC. To be the best, you have to beat the best.

*The picture is from my 22nd birthday when my girlfriend smeared icing on my face. She is running away from my revenge to put icing on her face.

Know That Owner: Jacob Maurer

2010-02-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

My name is Jacob Maurer, but most people call me Jake. My WIS handle is jemaurer. Mordecai was the first world that I joined and I also have a HBD team in Big Sky Alumni. I am relatively new to HBD (5 seasons) and believe that the best way to learn is to talk to you guys and pay attention to the chats and forums. I owe the veterans in Mordecai a debt of gratitude for their readiness to help a newcomer. I have dabbled in GD a little, but just enough to turn me off to it. I do truly enjoy HBD, however, and I know I will be around for a long time. One last tidbit concerning WIS, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank David (dwhit34) for introducing me to the game and giving me my start in Mordecai.

I am 33 years old and was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I am of Pennsylvania Dutch (which is actually German, from Deutsch) and Swedish descent with a handful of other genetic spices sprinkled in. I am descended from Scranton / Wilkes Barre coalminers on my Dad’s side and God - fearing Lutherans on my Mother’s side. I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at the age of 3 and have been dealing with the ups and downs of that as long as I can remember. I grew up a Philadelphia sports fan – 2 of the first 10 words in my vocabulary were ‘F--- Dallas.’ I graduated high school, dropped out of two universities, and at 20 years old God saw it fit to place me in New Orleans, Louisiana (1996.)

I am now living in New Orleans and I work as a cook (in dwhit34’s restaurant!) and also as a barista. It feels as if I’ve found my niche. I am a recovered alcoholic and my sobreity date is 28APR2008, so God willing, I will pick up a two year chip in a couple of months.

To get a superficial idea of my tastes, here are my top fives as of tonight:

Albums

The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
The Who – Live at Leeds
Frank Zappa and the Mothers – One Size Fits All
Ween – Pure Guava
Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds of the Western World

Books

Vladimir Nabokov – Lolita
David Foster Wallace – Infinite Jest
Kurt Vonnegut – Sirens of Titan
Richard Brautigan – In Watermelon Sugar
John Kennedy Toole – A Confederacy of Dunces

Films

Doctor Strangelove
The Big Lebowski
On the Waterfront
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Deconstructing Harry

Well, that’s me in a nutshell. It’s me and I’m in a nutshell… ANYWAY, at least it’s an intro. Like I said, I plan on sticking around for a long time so I look forward to knowing each of you better and revealing more of the intricacies of my character in time.

Know That Owner: Billy Robinson

2010-02-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

I'm Billy Robinson aka jimrome76 to most of you WIS guys. Some folks call me Bill, William, or Billy-Bill. And some coworkers have been known to call me Dollar Bill, Brother Bill, Doctor Bill and Bill The Deal. I'm not sure why. I'm one of the original members of Mordecai and have been on WIS since waaaaaay back in 2001. I also played GD for quite awhile and the main reason I picked Mordecai when HBD came out was that I had already played GD with a lot of the owners so I already knew some of them.

I clock in at 31 years old and dont have kids or a wife but for the past couple months I am in a committed relationship for the first time in about 5 years or so. Growing up I lived in Huntsville, AL with my dad and Nashville, TN with my mom. It was a strange contrast of suburbia in Huntsville and inner city ghetto in Nashville but I think in the long run I'm a more well rounded person for having to adapt to such different extremes of society.

When I was 15 I got a part time kitchen job in a restaurant. I enjoyed kitchen jobs and caught on quick so I went full time in kitchens after high school. By the time I was 25 I had 10 years experience including pretty much every position you can think of. Dishwasher, fry cook, saute cook, grill cook, prep cook, banquets cook, banquets service, kitchen manager, night cleaner, dessert cook, pizza cook, these are all positions in a kitchen that I worked under various different chefs at different restaurants. Ive worked for too many guys like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qGDNA7GPzI&feature=related I learned from them all but by then I was just burned out on the business. The long 60+ hour weeks and working nights and weekends all for low to mediocre pay had gotten old so it was time to make a change.

In the sumer of 2004 I moved to Auburn, AL and started college at Auburn University that fall. WAR EAGLE! I went to AU for 2 years and completed the core curriculum but could not decide on a major and didnt really like the whole going to classes and studying thing. I forced myself to do it but it was just incredibly boring and tedious so I decided it wasnt for me. Im a lifelong AU fan and I fell in love with this little town so I decided to stay. I got a job at a local Chevy dealership selling cars and eventually parlayed that into a job working on cars which something that Ive loved to do since I was a teenager. So for the last two years Ive worked on cars and made decent money and have a nice easy M-F 7:30-5:30 schedule with an hour lunch break. Ive found the perfect balance.

In my free time I enjoy playing guitar. Ive only been playing for a year and it is ridiculously more hard to learn than I thought it would be. I listen to mostly metal and classic rock but the guitar has opened me up to blues. Guns n Roses is my all time favorite band. Chinese Democracy was on of the top 10 rock albums of the last decade. I like old Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Slayer, Biohazard etc. When it comes to classic rock I like all of the standard stuff you hear on the radio. CCR, Skynard, Deep Purple, Zepplin, The Beatles, etc. On Thanksgiving weekend I got a noise citation for blasting this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_6IjeprfEs at earth shaking levels.

I am obsessed with SEC football. I love my Auburn Tigers. Jordan Hare Stadium is a 10 minute walk from my apartment! We are about to land a top 5 recruiting class and mark my words we will win at least 10 games this year. Gus Malzahns offense is sick but now with a stable of elite talent coming in and a JC QB who fits the offense like a golve we are primed and ready to fire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6dlRzu_mBc A BCS title is coming soon.

Well there you have it gentlemen. Thats everything but my drivers license number and my DNA sequence. Hope its as interesting to read as it has been for me to live! WAR! DAMN! EAGLE!

Know That Owner: Steve Oelheim

2010-01-28T21:25:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone, and thanks for stopping in to enjoy the newly revamped Mordecai blog! It’s time for the second installment in our “Meet the Owner” series… or in this case, “Meet the Commish”!

I’m on a first-name basis with a lot of the owners in Mordecai, but for those of you who don’t know, my name is Steve Oelheim, aka smoelheim on WhatIfSports. I am an original member of Mordecai, but not its original commissioner. The league founder bailed after the first season, and when nobody else stepped up, I decided to do what I could to keep the league running. It was a great choice, as this world is filled with great people and dedicated HBD owners. I expect to be here for a long, long time.

Outside of HBD, I am 38 years old, married for the last 8, and have two kids who really keep me running. When I’m not chasing them around the house (or the park, or the zoo, or the kids museum, or wherever), I like to escape for a round of golf in the warmer months, and we have season tickets to the local hockey team (the Rochester Americans of the AHL, hockey’s “AAA” league) in the colder months. I’m not real good at sitting around the house doing nothing.

I was born, raised, and still live in Rochester, NY. I work as a Sr Programmer Analyst for the #3 Company to Work For in America (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/index.html). It started out as a part time job when I was 16, and I’m still working for the same company today. How many 38 year olds can say they’ve got 22 years of seniority with their current employer?

I grew up as a Yankees fan (primarily because my first little league team was the Yankees), and the first game I ever specifically remember watching was the Yankees/Red Sox 1-game playoff in 1978, when Bucky Dent hit the infamous HR. I still remember running around the house celebrating. But a cancelled World Series, the length of the games, the “steroids/wound ball era”, and lack of a salary cap to level the playing field have all turned me off to the game. I find it completely unwatchable anymore. But I DO miss the statistics aspect of it, because I’m a huge numbers guy. That’s what brought me to WIS so long ago!

My dream WIS game would be Hockey Dynasty, but I’m not holding my breath for it anytime soon. I’m sure that a pro football game is higher on WIS’ priority list. If either of these games ever comes true, I’ll have a team in each, but will always leave my Mordecai team as my one remaining HBD team.

I think this was a great idea by rbedwell, and am glad that there was interest in resurrecting the Mordecai blog. I look forward to reading more owner bios in the coming weeks and months. And if anyone has other content they would like to submit, please talk to myself or Ralph, we’d be happy to publish submissions by everyone!

Know That Owner: Ralph Bedwell

2010-01-22T21:31:00.000-08:00

We're rolling out our updated blog with a new feature: Know That Owner. Brief bios of Mordecai owners so we can put some real people to those WIS usernames. I'll start!

As some of you know around these parts, I'm Ralph Bedwell, or rbedwell on WIS. To the right you can see me during Spring Training with Dover Diamonds' slugger Dude Perez (I'm the one in the sunglasses); now that I look at it, I can see why so many other teams have said, "That Perez is a monster!" As you can tell by all the gray hair, I'm an old guy. I always tell my students that I'm 112 -- which sadly some of them believe -- but actually I'm 54. What you'd notice first thing about me is that I'm 6'3" and weigh in at around 250.

When not engrossed in HBDland, I teach tenth grade English at Kennedy High School in Richmond, CA. It's your typical inner city school, with gang violence, poverty, high dropout rate, a busy childcare center, etc. Teaching at JFK is a big challenge, but the kids there need good teachers a lot more than the kids in the 'burbs, which is what keeps me plugging through the day-to-day frustrations.

Family is the biggest thing in my life, though. Despite being a near-Methuselah, my wife and I have three young kids, daughters aged 5 and 9, and a 12-year-old son. My wife just turned 40 herself, so I have to stay young to keep up with all of them! We love going places as a pack -- museums, parks, zoos, aquariums, science centers, libraries, parks, hiking trails, book sales, etc.

Somehow I've managed to become over-educated. I have a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley and two M.S. degrees from C.S.U. East Bay. For years, my secret goal has been to become a college instructor, but those jobs are hard to come by in the S.F. Bay Area, so no-go so far.

Sim baseball has been a hobby since I was a kid. I made up a dice game, sort of a crude APBA, that I played for years, then eventually got engrossed in the Bill James Classic Game, which was sort of like WIS sim baseball except it was played by telephone and snail mail (which was delivered by the Pony Express, of course). HBD is the best one yet, slam dunk. See ya'll on the virtual field!

If you're into Facebook, look me up and add me as a friend.

A word on the Power Rankings

2009-01-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

As I've stated previously, the power rankings are based on stats and their variation, not ranking. Here is a hypothetical example:

Let's say one stat is Stolen Bases. Team A leads the league with 50 SBs. Team B is 2nd with 37 SBs and Team C is 3rd with 34 SBs. If I used a ranking method, then Team A gets X points for 1st, Team B Y points for second, ad Team C Z points for third. The fact that Team A has 13 SBs more than second, while Team B only has 3 more than third is ignored. And that's why ranking systems don't tell the full story.

The way I do it, Team A leads and has 50 SB. So Team a would get 10 points as the leader. Then I take Team B's total and divide by Team A's total (37/50) and convert it into the 10 point scale. Team B would get 7.4 points. Then I divide Team C's total by Team A's total and so on. And for SBs I'd get a list that look something like this-

Team A- 10
Team B- 7.4
Team C- 6.8
and so on.

That's why the leagues can't be compared, the leaders are different and that is the top score. Subsequently, when I made the first combined ranking, sometimes the AL had the top score (usually hitting) and sometimes the NL did (usually pitching) thus the new combined ranking was based on different leaders.

One thing I will reveal is that Wins is a category I use. When I made the first power ranking, the teams with the most wins were all over the scale. I think a team with the 3rd most wins was actually 12th in the power ranking. While this is possible, I simply didn't like it. Because, the team with the most wins, wins. So, I doubled the score for Wins, it's worth 20 points. After all, it doesn't matter how you play the game, just whether you win or lose.

In the end, the power rankings were created to be easy and have something to post during the season. They are by no means a prediction of upcoming events; however, they may have some small use as to how the season is progressing. Mostly, they are just something to talk about...and laugh at!

Power Rankings

2009-01-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

Couple of notes before the list. I changed about half the formulas. The changes were designed to spread the point range out further. This should make it more entertaining and even more inaccurate than before. Ironically, in attempting to create a large spread for the scores, I had some of the closest scores since started...go figure. Still, 700 is the highest possible and 0 the lowest.

Secondly, for the first time ever, I created a chart that combines both AL and NL teams. This had the effect of actually rearranging the order of some teams. For example, in the usual NL St Louis is slightly ahead of Toledo; however, in the combined listing, Toledo moved slightly ahead of St Louis. I've always said that the league scores were not directly comparable, here's the proof!

These Rankings are thru Game 46. Again, since it's early, things will move significantly, especially with the new formulas. Enjoy!

AL

1) Tampa Bay- 677
2) Syracuse- 626
3) Fargo- 619
4) Florida- 528
5) Rochester- 521.72
6) Louisville- 521.67
7) Salt Lake City- 520
8) Helena- 519
9) Tucson- 513
10) Colorado Springs- 476
11) Charlotte- 472
12) Ottawa- 466
13) Kansas City- 451
14) Dover- 449
15) Toronto- 431
16) Little Rock- 405

NL

1) Texas- 664
2) Chicago- 598
3) Atlanta- 576
4) Las Vegas- 564
5) St. Louis- 546.2
6) Toledo- 545.9
7) Vancouver- 537
8) New York- 530.1
9) Huntington- 530.0
10) Boise- 495
11) Detroit- 486
12) Richmond- 474
13) Anaheim- 469
14) Austin- 444
15) Trenton- 381
16) Columbus- 363

Combined Leagues

1) Texas- 654
2) Tampa Bay- 651
3) Syracuse- 601
4) Fargo- 592
5) Chicago- 589
6) Atlanta- 568
7) Las Vegas- 556
8) Toledo- 537.7
9) St. Louis- 537.6
10) Vancouver- 529
11) New York- 524
12) Huntington- 522
13) Florida- 504
14) Rochester- 501.3
15) Helena- 500.9
16) Louisville- 499.6
17) Salt Lake City- 498.6
18) Tucson- 493
19) Boise 487
20) Detroit- 480
21) Richmond- 467
22) Anaheim- 462
23) Colorado Springs- 454
24) Charlotte- 453
25) Ottawa- 447
26) Kansas City- 437
27) Austin- 436
28) Dover- 432
29) Toronto- 412
30) Little Rock- 390
31) Trenton- 375
32) Columbus- 356

Franchise Standings Through Season 10

2008-12-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

Team	W	L	%	P	D	L	T
NL North
Detroit	874	746	.540	5	4	0	0
Toledo	860	760	.531	6	5	0	0
Chicago	851	769	.525	3	1	0	0
St. Louis	560	1060	.346	0	0	0	0
NL East
Huntington	902	718	.557	8	7	2	0
Trenton	870	750	.537	4	2	0	0
Columbus	760	860	.469	2	1	0	0
New York	561	1059	.346	0	0	0	0
NL South
Texas	984	636	.607	9	8	4	2
Austin	838	782	.517	3	1	0	0
Richmond	714	906	.441	1	1	0	0
Atlanta	677	943	.418	1	0	0	0
NL West
Las Vegas	1029	591	.635	10	9	4	2
Vancouver	840	780	.519	3	0	0	0
Boise	814	806	.502	3	0	0	0
Anaheim	754	866	.465	1	1	0	0
Team	W	L	%	P	D	L	T
AL North
Ottawa	839	781	.518	3	3	0	0
Fargo	815	805	.503	4	4	0	0
Toronto	804	816	.496	4	2	0	0
Kansas City	768	852	.471	1	1	0	0
AL East
Charlotte	895	725	.552	7	5	1	1
Rochester	841	779	.519	3	3	0	0
Syracuse	803	817	.496	2	2	0	0
Dover	689	931	.425	0	0	0	0
AL South
Louisville	955	665	.590	9	5	1	1
Tampa Bay	897	723	.554	6	5	4	2
Florida	791	829	.488	3	0	0	0
Little Rock	717	903	.443	1	0	0	0
AL West
Colorado Springs	911	709	.562	9	6	4	2
Helena	878	742	.542	6	4	0	0
Tucson	727	893	.449	1	0	0	0
Salt Lake City	701	919	.433	1	0	0	0

Key: Franchises are listed by season 11 location; W is wins; L is losses; % is winning percentage; P is playoff appearances; D is division titles; L is league championships won; T is world series championships won.

Another Champioship for Las Vegas

2008-12-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

Season 10 Champs:

Las Vegas brings home their second title, outlasting Colorado Springs in a thrilling 7 game series!!! In 10 seasons, 4 teams have now won the title twice and 2 teams have 1 title each.

Will season 11 season seven see one of the 4 powerhouses take a third title, will a 5th team join the crowd at 2 titles or could a first time winner survive the gauntlet?

Power Rankings

2008-10-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Through Game 76

AL

1) Tampa Bay- 670
2) Helena- 602
3) Louisville- 598
4) Fargo- 588
5) Rochester- 582
6) Colorado Springs- 578
7) Salt Lake City- 568
8) Charlotte- 567
9) Florida- 560
10) Little Rock- 556
11) Syracuse- 554
12) Kansas City- 533
13) New York- 504
14) Toronto- 466
15) Tucson- 460
16) Dover- 421

NL

1) Las Vegas- 678
2) Toledo- 602
3) Huntington- 576
4) Vancouver- 556
5) Chicago- 553
6) Texas- 552
7) San Juan- 539
8) Detroit- 507
9) Atlanta- 503
10) St Louis- 499
11) Richmond- 495
12) Anaheim- 476
13) Austin- 450
14) Washington- 446
15) Columbus- 437
16) Portland- 393

A big shake up, as expected, between the first and second power rankings. It appears as we hit the halfway point of season 10 that Tampa Bay and Las Vegas are trying to run away with their respective leagues!

What will the 2nd half bring?

Power Rankings

2008-10-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

Through Game 37

AL

1) Charlotte- 640.48
2) Colorado Springs- 640.46
3) Syracuse- 634
4) Helena- 621
5) Tampa Bay- 608
6) Fargo- 606
7) Kansas City- 581
8) Salt Lake City- 561
9) Louisville- 551
10) Florida- 546
11) New York- 538
12) Toronto- 533
13) Little Rock- 515
14) Rochester- 506
15) Tucson- 503
16) Dover- 430

NL

1) Las Vegas- 657
2) Huntington- 636
3) Vancouver- 584
4) Toledo- 581
5) Atlanta- 555
6) San Juan- 548
7) Chicago- 539
8) Richmond- 527
9) Texas- 507
10) Detroit- 487
11) Austin- 485
12) St Louis- 450
13) Columbus- 520
14) Anaheim- 396
15) Portland- 391
16) Washington- 369

The power rankings are based on stats. Since the season is not even 1/4 complete, there will be significant fluctuation as more games are played. Highest score possible is 700, lowest is 0. The scores are only comparable within a league.

Team Records Through Season 9

2008-09-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Team	W	L	%	P	D	L	T
NL North
Detroit	784	674	.538	5	4	0	0
Toledo	768	690	.527	5	4	0	0
Chicago	760	698	.521	2	1	0	0
St. Louis	480	978	.329	0	0	0	0
NL East
Huntington	810	648	.556	7	6	2	0
San Juan	779	679	.534	3	2	0	0
Columbus	704	754	.483	2	1	0	0
Washington	500	958	.343	0	0	0	0
NL South
Texas	891	567	.611	8	7	4	2
Austin	774	684	.531	3	1	0	0
Richmond	631	827	.433	1	1	0	0
Atlanta	598	860	.410	1	0	0	0
NL West
Las Vegas	918	540	.630	9	8	3	1
Vancouver	759	699	.521	3	0	0	0
Portland	756	702	.519	3	0	0	0
Anaheim	682	776	.468	1	1	0	0
Team	W	L	%	P	D	L	T
AL North
New York	766	682	.525	3	3	0	0
Toronto	735	723	.504	4	2	0	0
Fargo	725	733	.497	3	3	0	0
Kansas City	693	765	.475	1	1	0	0
AL East
Charlotte	817	641	.560	7	5	1	1
Rochester	755	703	.518	2	2	0	0
Syracuse	724	734	.497	2	2	0	0
Dover	628	829	.431	0	0	0	0
AL South
Louisville	866	592	.594	8	5	1	1
Tampa Bay	796	662	.546	5	4	4	2
Florida	722	736	.495	3	0	0	0
Little Rock	634	824	.435	1	0	0	0
AL West
Colorado Springs	812	646	.557	8	5	3	2
Helena	797	661	.547	6	4	0	0
Tucson	652	806	.447	1	0	0	0
Salt Lake City	611	847	.419	0	0	0	0

Key: Franchises are listed by season 9 location; W is wins; L is losses; % is winning percentage; P is playoff appearances; D is division titles; L is league championships won; T is world series championships won.

Power Rankings

2008-07-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

These are the rankings through July 16th.

AL

1) Fargo (669)
2) Tampa Bay (625)
3) Charlotte (588)
4) Colorado Springs (564)
5) Louisville (563)
6) Toronto (557)
7) Helena (542)
8) Florida (527)
9) Rochester (519)
10) New York (505)
11) Boston (482)
12) Little Rock (476)
13) Syracuse (463)
14) Salt Lake City (441)
15) Kansas City (436)
16) Tucson (348)

NL

1) Huntington (663)
2) Las Vegas (641)
3) Texas (598)
4) Vancouver (566)
5) San Juan (553)
6) Richmond (551)
7) Austin (548)
8) Columbus (545)
9) Monterrey (541)
10) Toledo (539)
11) Detroit (522)
12) Anaheim (487)
13) Chicago (485)
14) Washington (467)
15) Sacramento (438)
16) St. Louis (430)

Sorry for the delay; however, this is also going to be the last power ranking until August. As some of you know, I am studying for the California Bar Exam, which is now two weeks away. I'll also be moving directly after I finish the Bar, so that will cause a short delay as well.

In the meantime, here is something for your entertainment pleasure!

Season 9 Preview- St. Louis Pathfinders

2008-06-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

There are two questions buzzing throughout the Mordecai World relating to the St. Louis Pathfinders. The first is, "Will you trade Travis Brown?" and the second is "Will you trade Alex Johnson?" While about a dozen teams have asked those burning questions, there will actually be a Major League season played Season 9.

This season the St. Louis outfield will feature a platoon in left field, as veteran Cookie Moreno and Jerry Belitz split time, most likely keeping the spot warm for an early season call-up for Travis Brown. In the meantime Moreno and Belitz will be joined in center by Brandon Sandberg, who actually performed a adequate job Season 8, hitting .262 with 54 RBI and 16 steals while playing solid defense. Right field will be roamed by Pablo Castro, who tallied a franchise record 100 steals last season. While this lineup will not break many offensive records, the speedy group will cover much ground.

The infield echoes the defensive assets of the outfield, and also unfortunately has the same lack of Pathfinder offense. Defensive minded shortstop J.T. Barber anchors the infield that will include third baseman Vincenzo Hutton (18 homers, 66 RBI last year) and second baseman Jeff Clark (10 home runs, 64 RBI, 70 steals). Matty Molina will play first, hoping to improve on his 28 home run, 70 RBI rookie season. The 70 steals of Clark and Castro's 100 steals will move runners around the bases again for the Pathfinders this season, but unfortunately that'll be the only way to move around since the bats will be rather silent again this year in St. Louis.

Behind the dish veteran Mo Roundtree comes in to hopefully reign in the wild pitching staff, as well as hit a bit. Backup Ross Jodie, a former (sad as it is to say) bright spot in the franchise's offense, will get some needed rest and settle into the correct role as the #2.

The pitching staff will be an adventure again in St. Louis. B.C. Harris, Cookie Miranda, and Moises Lee will anchor the starters. Last year the trio won only 15 games, led by Lee's 8-7 mark. Todd Kroon and Wayne Lambert round out the starting staff and are simultaneously unspectacular and innings eaters, but hopefully will see some flashes of being average. Mike Cooper moves into the closer role, held the past few seasons by veteran Mark Miller. Cooper is a rising star in the Pathfinder universe and has set a personal goal of 20 saves this season.

The long and short of things in St. Louis this year is another long season of poor pitching and low run totals. Speculation is they'll improve over the 45 wins next season, but getting up to 60 wins would be a moral victory for this long rebuilding effort. The Pathfinder fans will hopefully see the world of double-digit loss seasons by Season 10.

Prediction: 56-106

Career Coaching

2008-06-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

This is a little bit of fun stuff jimrome76 came up with. It isn't simply the coaching leaders in mordecai, but is an all-time record in all worlds of the current mordecai owners. Enjoy.

Career Coaching Leaders

Wins
mbooker - 5976
chazzzz - 2131
lansteen - 2058
plague - 1953
dwhit34- 1943
dupala - 1770
dbgmpd- 1735
bhbgew - 1667
nosferatu- 1601
jbrehm - 1600

Win%
jamesutd- 0.632
themehl - 0.603
jimrome76- 0.590
heater1121 - 0.588
thebenders - 0.569
dyuen - 0.562
mbooker- 0.551
jbrehm - 0.549
brian2470- 0.549
dupala - 0.546

Playoff Wins
mbooker- 162
dyuen - 88
plague - 60
themehl- 58
lansteen -51
thebenders- 50
dwhit34 - 49
jbrehm - 45
jimrome76- 44
chazzzz - 40

Playoff win %
dyuen - 0.620
themehl- 0.574
chazzzz - 0.563
lansteen - 0.548
jbrehm - 0.542
heater1121- 0.542
jimrome76 - 0.524
brian2470 - 0.517
plague - 0.513
mbooker- 0.511

Total Seasons
mbooker - 67
chazzzz - 28
lansteen - 24
plague - 23
dwhit34- 23
bhbgew - 21
nosferatu- 20
dbgmpd - 20
dupala - 20

Div. Title
mbooker- 22
plague - 13
dwhit34- 11
jbrehm - 9
dupala - 8
lansteen- 7
iceman67- 7
thebenders- 7
jimrome76 - 7
themehl - 7
jamesutd - 7

Playoffs
mbooker - 37
plague - 13
dwhit34- 12
thebenders- 12
dupala - 11
dyuen - 11
jbrehm - 10
lansteen - 10
dbgmpd - 10

League Title
dyuen - 6
mbooker- 6
themehl - 4
plague - 4
jimrome76- 4
lansteen - 3
thebenders- 3
jbrehm - 3
chazzzz - 3
jamesutd- 2
brian2470- 2

WS Title
dyuen - 5
themehl- 3
plague - 2
lansteen- 2
jimrome76- 2
mbooker - 1
thebenders- 1
dupala - 1
jbrehm - 1
iceman67- 1
jamesutd - 1
heater1121- 1