Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Hall of Fame votes

Thought it might be cool to see how the final HOF votes ended up. Here is the list:
Joe Rivera 23
Juan Romero 16
Luis Piedra 11
Phil Kimura 10
Steven Vaughn 10
Rico Nunez 10
Alex Ramirez 7
Charles Bottalico 4
Pat Yamamoto 4
Lee Brooks 3
Jon Prokopec 3
Willie Magadan 3
Dwight Long 2
Hong-Jin Kobayashi 2
Lawrence Simpson 2
Valerio Santana 1
Martin Clifton 1
Charles Yamamoto 1
Darrell Womack 1
Ben Cortes 1
Al Kingman 1
Kelly Lewis 1
Jim Patterson 1
Harry Rodrigo 1

Sunday, July 24, 2011

First Power Rankings for Season 20

Are you ready for the unveiling of the Power Rankings in the Joey Belle Times? Just to give a little background into how The Joey Belle Times firgures them up. We take the overall record into consideration as well as the expected winning percentage. We also figure in the rank in 3 categories: runs scored, ERA, and fielding percentage. After the initial Power Rankings the number of wins since the last Power Rankings will also be figured in for each team. Without further ado:

1. New York Necromancers(13-7)--The Necromancers started a little slow, but have won 7 out of their last 8 and are getting some very good overall pitching. New York will probably only go as far as their offense carries them though.

2. Columbus Criminals(13-7)--Columbus has started out playing well in every faucet of the game. This team has already jumped out to a 3 game lead in their division.

3. Pawtucket Slater Paws(12-8)--Pawtucket has a suspect offense in the early going, but they haven't needed to do too much as the pitching staff has been phenomenal.

4. Ottawa Ice(12-8)--The Ice have been hitting the ball and scoring runs in bunches. The pitching staff has been solid, but if they can bring it up a notch it will be hard for New York to hold them off.

5. Salem Goonies(15-5)--Going by strictly record this is a shock. The Goonies have absolutely crushed the ball. They have outscored everyone else in the league with 2nd place 14 runs behind them. Conversely, they have some pitching and fielding problems in the early going.

6. Washington D.C. Revenge(12-8)--The reigning World Series Champions' are playing solid baseball. They are in the top 10 in ever faucet of the game.

7. Scottsdale Valley Vipers(13-7)--The Valley Vipers have picked up right where they left off in first place in the NL West. They are powered behind a very good lineup and just enough pitching to get the job done.

8. San Juan Senators(11-9)--The Senators have a decent pitching staff that is made a little better by a very good offense.

9. Oakland Surenos(11-9)--Oakland's record doesn't correctly reflect how this team is playing. They have a solid offense behind a very good pitching staff. If this team continues to play well they will definitely improve in the wins column.

10. Scranton Stranglers(12-8)--The Stranglers have one of the worst pitching staffs in the majors in the early going. However they also have one of the best offenses in Joey Belle. They like to play in some high scoring games.

Friday, July 22, 2011

20 questions with coach34

1. What should we call you?
Wool or Coach34- I go by Coach34 on a couple of message boards

2. Any hobbies or favorite pastimes besides HBD?
not really these days with having 2 young kids

3. How did you fall into HBD?
somebody posted about it on a message board I frequent and I checked it out- been hooked ever since

4. How many teams do you run? How many hours per week do you pour into your teams?
6 right now, but cutting down to 5 or 4....and I spend 6-7 hours a week

5. Married? Children?
yes and yes. Have 2 with ex-wife, and 2 more with new wife- ages 14, 9, 2, and 4 days

6. City/State you live in? Hometown where you grew up?
Shreveport, La...born and raised in Jackson, Miss

7. Occupation? Do you check in on your teams often during the workday?
On my 3rd career- was a HS football/baseball coach, then surgical sales, now a stay at home dad for the next year

8. Who is your favorite baseball player of all time?
Nolan Ryan

9. What makes you laugh?
people tripping and falling in public, Sam Kinison, Dice Clay, Chris Rock

10. Top 3 all time movies?
Goodfellas
Pulp Fiction
Caddyshack

11. What popular song past/present do you most identify with?
Wherever I May Roam- Metallica (I've moved 11 times in the last 7 years)

12. Real baseball team you grew up loving? Still in love with them?
Cubs because of Harry Carey- not as much because the front office is so damn stupid

13. Tell me 2 things you wish you knew about particular Joey Belle owners?
ages of other owners I guess

14. You're fairly outspoken as a Joey Belle owner. Why?
I'm a loudmouth in real life

15. What is your GM philosophy?
I'm a Steinbrenner- all about winning now- worry about down the road later

16. Any special meaning for your WIS nickname? Your Joey Belle team name?
it's the name I've been called for 20 years- and I wore 34 in college because of Nolan Ryan- Free Swinger pretty much described me as a hitter

17. Who is/was your favorite Joey Belle owner? Why?
Me

18. Which MLB Commissioner do you admire or identify with most? Why?
Kennesaw Mountain Landis- had to come in and clean up cheating and the throwing of games- tough job and had to make some unpopular decisions

19. General pet peeves about the HBD game?
DITR is a waste of time- feel there should be some sort of penalty for losing 100 or more games 2 seasons in a row

20. If I was Joey Belle Commish for a day I would...
keep status quo

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

20 questions with davidbutler9

1. What should we call you?
David, db9

2. Any hobbies or favorite pastimes besides HBD?
I love all sports, baseball is probably my favorite sport followed closely by football. I also love playing poker, and spending time with my kids.

3. How did you fall into HBD?
I was online trying to find some baseball sim games and found whatifsports.com and fell in love with HBD.

4. How many teams do you run? How many hours per week do you pour into your teams?
I currently run 5 teams. i probably spend about an hour to an hour a half on each team per week.

5. Married? Children?
I am married with 2 wonderful children. I have an 8 year old son and a 3 year old daughter who thinks that she's the boss.

6. City/State you live in? Hometown where you grew up?
I live in Lafayette, IN which is the home of Purdue University. I grew up just outside of Lafayette, IN

7. Occupation? Do you check in on your teams often during the workday?
I work as a restaurant shift leader and yes i do if we are not too busy.

8. Who is your favorite baseball player of all time?
Ryne Sandberg

9. What makes you laugh?
my children

10. Top 3 all time movies?
Billy Madison
8 Men Out
The Hangover

11. What popular song past/present do you most identify with?
I really don't know if I identify with any songs.

12. Real baseball team you grew up loving? Still in love with them?
Chicago Cubs-I will always love the Cubs no matter how stupid it may be:)

13. Tell me 2 things you wish you knew about particular Joey Belle owners?
I enjoy playing against the other people in Joey Belle. I hope to get to know all of you a little better and that you all like the 20 questions idea, so we can all get to know each other a little better.

14. You're fairly outspoken as a Joey Belle owner. Why?
I am outspoken in real life as well. I have gotten more outspoken here partly because I feel that I should as the commish as well. I normally have an opinion about something, but i think that the great thing about life is that not everyone agrees and that we can all hopefully come to compromises on most things. I think it's important that people feel free to express opinions in a respectful manner.


15. What is your GM philosophy?
pitching and up the middle defense surrounded by very good, quality hitting

16. Any special meaning for your WIS nickname? Your Joey Belle team name?
not at all. i'm not very creative with my nicknames

17. Who is/was your favorite Joey Belle owner? Why?
i'm not sure i have a favorite. i like everyone here.

18. Which MLB Commissioner do you admire or identify with most? Why?
i don't know if i admire him and i certainly don't identify with him but i think that bud selig has done a better job than most people think. he has made a few mistakes, but i think overall the game is in a very good place now.

19. General pet peeves about the HBD game?
i wish that they would tweak the ditr's more. there still isn't much improvement in most of those players and i've still never had a ditr who became a major league player

20. If I was Joey Belle Commish for a day I would...
do whatever blanch13 was doing. he was a great commish

Friday, July 15, 2011

Welcome to Season 20 in Joey Belle!

Welcome to Season 20 everyone! We have 5 new owners this season! They are slin2678, kbrick, djbradford, dillontt, and bcinsk23. I hope that they all enjoy this great world that we have here! Good luck to everyone this season!