MLB Showdown Cards

#Shotsfriday

          The rich continue to get richer around here. First off I repeated with a free shot from "The Big Ugly" Michael Morse. He is growing on me more and more even with his little fake swing he does before each pitch. That is both mine and his second shot. Our graphics department sent in a shot as well with @RokTikiTiki scoring with Josh Willingham. First for the twitter second for the player. Hopefully this shot is not that last for the man who makes the aesthetics of the cards look better than I did. Are largest single day total has been established by one of our pros. @MLBConnoisseur had a pair from his free pick Prince Fielder. The rare Double shot gets Fielder to 3. Kyle was not done there Giancarlo Stanton hit his first to give @MLBConnoisseur 6 season shots and 4 picks today. One of the most impressive streaks which is still active it @Tomwyliehart with his fourth shot by 4 different players in 4 consecutive weeks. Miguel Cabrera hit his first to be newest edition to that list. 




          One of our reader’s has sent me a league with some interesting variations. David and Frank came up with the first “franchise mode” I have heard of. They played a pure league from what I understand the first year (no strategy cards) and played online. They used webcams and rolled on that (Google+ also has random number generator apps). To their credit they played a full 162 game schedule which is impressive.  Here is there specific “franchise” rules which they sent to me

1) Injuries

Before every game we each roll the die. If we roll a 1 or 2, a player on our team is injured. If we roll a 1 or 2 again, that player is on the 15-day DL. Three times, 60-day DL. Four times, out for season. Five times, career-ending injury. The player is determined by another die roll and chosen by their position in the batting order (ex: the leadoof hitter is 1 and a 11). 10 and 20 are our pitchers.

If you roll a 20 three times, the player tests positive for steroids. This has never happened.

2) Free agency/trade deadline
At the 81-game mark, we both split three packs, randomly drawing each player. These are the players we've "traded" for. At the end of the season we both split five packs (this number can vary). These players are our "free agent" signings.

Of course, there are duplicates. In the event, you get a player you already have, nothing happens. In the event, you get a player that the other manager has, that manager gets to decide if he will allow you to have his player. If he chooses to keep him, you are allowed to buy any card you want for equal or less the number of points of the duplicate player.

3) Retirement
We pretend out showdown "franchise" began in 2000. Therefore, Season #2 is 2001, #3 is 2002 and so on. If a player retired, after 2002 in real life, he can no longer play in showdown. There are exceptions, however.

For example, if I get a player in free agency for Season #3 (2002) who retired in 2000, I am allowed to use him for one season.

4) In-game events

- If a speed C hits into a double play with a man on first and second and no outs and the roll is a 20 for a double play attempt, it is a triple play. This has never happened.

- Using the Whoops card, players can be ejected if the manager rolls two straight 20s. This has happened once.

- There has never been a cycle, no-hitter or four home run game.

League Leaders

Average

1: Randy Velarde: .299

2: Jeffery Hammonds: .297

3: Roger Cedeno: .273

4: Andruw Jones: .270

5: Omar Vizquel: .269

HR’s

1: Jeffery Hammonds: 31

2: Ellis Burks: 22

3: Juan Gonzalez: 21

4: David Justice: 18

5: Frank Thomas: 17 (78 games)

RBI

1: Jeffery Hammonds: 101

2: Ellis Burks: 98

3: David Justice: 87

4: Juan Gonzalez: 77

5: Mark Grace: 70

Runs

1: Roger Cedeno: 104

2: David Justice: 87

3: Craig Biggio: 79

4: Mark Grace: 76

4: Jeffery Hammonds: 76

Wins

1: Pedro Martinez: 22

2: John Smoltz: 18

3: Greg Maddux: 14

4: Dave Milicki: 13

5: Hideo Nomo: 12

ERA

1: Pedro Martinez: 2.29

2: John Smultz: 2.94

3: David Cone: 4.11

4: Dave Milicki: 4.41

5. Greg Maddux: 4.64

Saves

1: Mike Remlinger: 41

2: Jeff Shaw: 32

3: Bob Wickman: 2

4: Scott Sullivan: 1

This is only their first year of the franchise. I may come back and show how the multi-year facet of this plays out. If you all have a league with fun rules or just good stats please feel free to send me the information so we can spot-light you as well. Thank you Frank and David for these variations to league play. 

@Mlbshowdownguru Michael Morse 2

@RokTikiTiki with Josh Wilingham 2

@MLBConnoisseur Prince Fielder 2

@MLBConnoisseur Prince Fielder 3

@MLBConnoisseur Giancarlo Stanton

@Tomwyliehart Miguel Cabrera

Twitter-Board

@MLBCONNOISSEUR:6

@Quicksand3:4

@Tomwyliehart:4

@Markrom:3

@5b_nelson:2
@Eddiezone44:2

@MLBShowdownguru:2

@LU_TX12:1
@Gregleasure:1
@IamPulseivity:1

@RuffRidinNole:1

@Roktikitiki:1

Player-Board
Curtis Granderson:3

Prince Fielder: 3

Albert Pujols:2

Mark Teixeira:2

Pedro Alvarez:2
Josh Hamilton:2

Michael Morse:2
Mike Trout:2 
Josh Willingham:2
Brian McCann:1

Jay Bruce:1

Adam Dunn:1

Jose Bautista:1 

Robinson Cano:1

Mark Trumbo:1

Miguel Cabrera:1 

Giancarlo Stanton:1