Thursday, November 25, 2010

Mantle Season 18 Power Rankings

For what it's worth, HBD owner knucklebones runs an internet radio show in which he covers HBD news and various worlds. He's assisted by another HBD owner, tomjames, who puts together Power Rankings for various worlds and publishes them on their website. Last night (11/24/2010), Mantle was covered by knucklebones on his radio show and the Mantle Power Rankings were discussed.

If you're interested, you can listen to the radio show here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/knucklebones/2010/11/25/this-week-in-mantle

Actual news about Mantle starts at around 20 minutes into the show.

If you just want to view the Power Rankings, you can see them here:

http://hbdnews.blogspot.com/2010/11/mantle-season-18-final-power-rankings.html

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Commissioner's Challenge Award (S18)

Our first full regular season as a private world has just completed, and the season 18 playoffs are now underway.

As I mentioned when we became a private world, I was instituting the "Commissioner's Challenge", which would go to the team that had the most wins during the season without making the playoffs.

I'm happy to announce the first winner of a $5 WIS Gift Certificate as mbooker of the Jacksonville Seminoles, whose 87 wins was still 7 games short of earning a post-season appearance.

1) 87 wins - Jacksonville Seminoles (mbooker)
2) 86 wins - Norfolk Fatheaded Statheads (silentpadna)
3t) 83 wins - Jackson Bootleggers (rwright)
3t) 83 wins - Chicago Black Sox (tomq)
3t) 83 wins - Charleston Loggerheads (sir_slamalot)
6) 82 wins - Florida Lockdown (welsh5)
7t) 80 wins - Milwaukee Suds (battmann)
7t) 80 wins - Vancouver Fighting Skeletons (diryn)
9) 78 wins - Sacramento Boo A's (lightmn13)
10t) 72 wins - San Francisco Oles (evegoe)
10t) 72 wins - Monterrey Sugar Kings (drichter)
12) 70 wins - Portland Poltergeists (selmer)
13) 69 wins - Kansas City Blues (rbedwell)
14) 68 wins - Little Rock Cigars (shanklsa)
15) 67 wins - Trenton Titans (KGS77)
16) 65 wins - Oakland Polish Hammers (goodtymes31)
17) 63 wins - San Diego Seagulls (ericsomsel)
18) 62 wins - Charlotte Moose Hunters (jmil397)
19) 61 wins - Washington D.C. Metros (jmaese)
20) 55 wins - Cincinnati Porkers (kevinkevinra)

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Old Faces, New Cities

The offseason between seasons 17 and 18 have seen some changes, both in ownership and in franchise locations, all the National League.  The American League has returned completely intact and unchanged.

First, our new owners. 

First, Mantle is glad to welcome back longtime (and original) owner sir_slamalot, former owner of the Burlington/Buffalo (now Cincinnati) AL franchise, who is now the owner of the former Dover franchise in the NL East.  Slam returns after a self-imposed two season hiatus and has relocated the team to it's new home and name, the Charleston Loggerheads.

Secondly, Mantle also welcomes back owner lightmn13, who has reclaimed his previous Anaheim franchise (S17's Salt Lake City franchise) after being away for one season, and has relocated them upstate as the Sacramento Boo A's.

A couple other owners have taken advantage of our first rollover as a private world to relocate their franchises to new cities as well.

jmaese has relocated his team from St. Louis to our nation's capital as the Washington D.C. Metros; drichter has taken his Texas team south of the border as the newly rechristened Monterrey Sugar Kings; and in a last minute surprise move, shanklsa has moved the Louisville franchise to Arkansas as the Little Rock Cigars.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Playing With Numbers in Dangerous Ways

Numbers can be dangerous when used incorrectly.  Which is probably what I'm doing now.  But just for kicks this afternoon, I looked at all the playoff teams in the AL and NL and the games they played against each other this season.  I then applied the Pythagorean Win formula for each series to "predict" a winner of each series, all the way through to the ALCS and NLCS.  Didn't do the World Series because my two "winners" didn't play each other this season.

Yeah, I know.  The ten games each team played agaisnt their opponent is a small sample size.  So there's probably very little merit to the following.    But here goes:

AL Play-In, Richmond vs. Scranton

Head to head, Scranton outscored Richmond in their season series by a narrow margin, 57-53, to give the Apollos an expected winning percentage of .536.

Prediction: Scranton in 5.

AL Play-In, Norfolk vs. Portland

Head to head, Norfolk trounced Portland in their season series by a very convincing 75-44, to give the Fatheaded Statheads an expected winning percentage of .744.

Prediction: Norfolk in 4.

NL Play-In, Texas vs. Minnesota

This was interesting.  Take away their 10 game season sweep against Louisville, and the Long Horns were a .500 team during the regular season.  But they apparently matched up well against the Mighty Men, outscoring them in their season series by 54-46 for an expected winning percentage of .579.

Prediction: Texas in 5.

NL Play-In, Albuquerque vs. Salt Lake City

As division rivals, they probably knew each other pretty well.  But in their 10 game season series, the Isotopes outscored the Snowflakes by a 66-58 margin, giving them an expected winning percentage of .564.

Prediction: Albuquerque in 5.

ALDS, Detroit vs. Scranton

Two longtime AL North rivals face off in the second round, but it's hardly a close series.  Detroit trounced Scranton in the regular season by outscoring them 60-32 for an expected winning percentage of .779.

Prediction: Detroit in 4

ALDS, Baltimore vs. Norfolk

Probably the most anticipated matchup of the entire post season, as the 120 win Blast take on their division rivals and winners of 109 games, Norfolk.  As one might expect, the Blast are not going to be slowed down, as they outscored the Fatheaded Statheads by 46-36 during the regular season for an expected winning percentage of .620.

Prediction: Baltimore in 5

NLDS, New York vs. Texas

The Long Horns run of good luck finally runs out.  The Apples outscored them 53-40 in their head-to-head matchups during the regular season for an expected winning percentage of .637.

Prediction: New York in 5

NLDS, Rochester vs. Albuquerque

Not even close.  Rochester ran all over Albuquerque 61-30 in the regular season for an expected winning percentage of .805.

Prediction: Rochester in 4

ALCS: Detroit vs. Baltimore

The 1 seed versus the 2 seed.  Baltimore outplayed and outscored the Tigers by a 46-39 margin for an expected winning percentage of .582.

Prediction: Baltimore in 6

NLCS: New York vs. Rochester

Another matchup of 1 seed versus 2 seed, but this time the 2 seed has the upper hand.  Outscoring New York by a margin of 44-37 during the regular season for an expected winning percentage of .586, the Rochy Road Rochstars bring home the hardware.

Prediction: Rochester in 6

So there you have it.  A World Series between the Baltimore Blast and the Rochester Rochy Road Rochstars.

Remember, you heard it here first.

Monday, July 26, 2010

"Win Minimum" Rule Defeated in Narrow Vote

Mantle World's first order of business after going private was to vote on whether or not we wanted to adopt a rule on minimum number of wins required in order for an owner to retain their franchise.

Commissioner tec instituted a voting policy that would require any world rule that was to be adopted would have to (a) receive at least 24 votes from current owners (in which the owners would vote either "yes", "no", or "no preference"), and (b) there would need to be at least 60% "yes" votes between the yes's/no's cast (i.e., the "no preference" votes would be excluded).

The results of the win minumum rule voting was:

Yes - 17 (56.7%)
No - 13 (43.3%)
No Preference - 2 (excluded)

So by a narrow margin of only one vote, adoption of a "win minimum" rule, starting in season 18, has been defeated. It will not be revisted again this season. It can be brought up again for discussion and voting again during season 18 (for adoption in season 19) if desired.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

It's Official! We're Now a Private World!!!

Mantle World was notified by Site Staff on July 5, 2010, that we were eligible to become a private world. We voted, and by a vote of 21 private, 4 public, and 7 no preference, we elected to go private, with me (tecwrg) as commissioner.

Site Staff was notified of our final decision two days ago, and we officially became a private world this morning.

More to come.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Tec's Useless Trivia - v17

Here are cumulative standings for each division through Mantle World's first 16 seasons:

AL NorthWLPctGB
Detroit Tigers151910730.5860
Chicago Black Sox143411580.55385
Scranton Apollos143111610.55288
Kansas City Blues141511770.546104
AL EastWLPctGB
Cincinnati Porkers136712250.5270
Norfolk Fatheaded Statheads132412680.51143
Baltimore Blast121913730.470148
Durham Bulls117814140.454189
AL SouthWLPctGB
Richmond Generals128913030.4970
Jacksonville Seminoles127313190.49116
Jackson Bootleggers119313990.46096
Charlotte Moose Hunters110514870.426184
AL WestWLPctGB
Portland Poltergeists145311390.5610
San Francisco Oles135312390.522100
Colorado Springs Mile High Marines132212700.510131
San Diego Seagulls100215900.387451
NL NorthWLPctGB
Minnesota Mighty Men140211900.5410
Trenton Titans132412680.51178
Milwaukee Suds130312890.50399
New York Apples128813040.497114
NL EastWLPctGB
St. Louis Cards125213400.4830
Dover Drop Bears122213700.47130
New Britain Blood Brothers117114210.45281
Rochester Rochy Road Rochstars115714350.44695
NL SouthWLPctGB
Florida Lockdown151910730.5860
Texas Long Horns135312390.522166
Louisville Beaners128113110.494238
Oklahoma City Power Failure123813540.478281
NL WestWLPctGB
Salt Lake City Snowflakes130412880.5030
Vancouver Fighting Skeletons129312990.49911
Oakland Polish Hammers124613460.48158
Albuquerque Isotopes123413580.47670

And if that's not enough trivia to digest at one sitting, lets also take a look at the post season history of each team in Mantle through it's first 16 seasons. The following lists number of division titles, number of wild card appearances, number of LCS titles, number of WS titles, and the number of different owners that each franchise has been managed by:

AL NorthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Detroit Tigers77112
Chicago Black Sox23111
Scranton Apollos52001
Kansas City Blues29113
AL EastDivWCLCSWSOwners
Cincinnati Porkers90113
Norfolk Fatheaded Statheads51226
Baltimore Blast12101
Durham Bulls11001
AL SouthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Richmond Generals51111
Jacksonville Seminoles61213
Jackson Bootleggers40111
Charlotte Moose Hunters10007
AL WestDivWCLCSWSOwners
Portland Poltergeists92202
San Francisco Oles41211
Colorado Springs Mile High Marines32111
San Diego Seagulls00004
NL NorthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Minnesota Mighty Men64101
Trenton Titans34002
Milwaukee Suds52115
New York Apples22113
NL EastDivWCLCSWSOwners
St. Louis Cards42003
Dover Drop Bears71207
New Britain Blood Brothers10005
Rochester Rochy Road Rochstars41009
NL SouthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Florida Lockdown103731
Texas Long Horns43103
Louisville Beaners13101
Oklahoma City Power Failure11005
NL WestDivWCLCSWSOwners
Salt Lake City Snowflakes50103
Vancouver Fighting Skeletons35006
Oakland Polish Hammers30102
Albuquerque Isotopes51003

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Season 16 Hall of Fame Class

Mantle World is proud to introduce it's first two members of the Mantle Hall of Fame: pitcher Harry Mateo, inducted as a member of the Tacoma (now Anaheim) franchise, and first baseman Quentin Keller, inducted as a member of the once and again current San Francisco franchise.

Here is a brief biography of each of the inaugural members of the Mantle Hall of Fame:


A veteran of 18 major league seasons, Mateo retired after season 15 with an impressive resume. Six All-Star appearances, 3 Cy Young awards, and three Silver Slugger awards as a pitcher. He retired with a lifetime W/L record of 192-114 and an ERA of 3.21 to go along with a 1.19 WHIP. To prove that those three Silver Slugger awards were no fluke, he also hit .209 with 5 home runs and 64 RBI's in his career.

Initially a member of the AL's New York Pork Loins, he was traded three times in season 1 of Mantle. First, he was traded in the pre-season to the Cincinnati Red Stockings in a two for one deal, and then a few weeks later traded back to the Pork Loins as part of a three-for-three deal. Finally, a few weeks after that he was once again traded, this time to the Tacoma Baymen as part of another three-for-three transaction. Once he arrived in Tacoma, he finally settled in for a long and productive career with the Baymen.

The highlights of his career in Tacoma were seasons 8, 9 and 10, in which he won back-to-back-to-back National League Cy Young awards and appeared in his one and only World Series (in season 8). Over those three seasons, he went 54-23 with a 2.22 ERA and a very impressive 1.06 WHIP. It was also during his time in Tacoma when he made his only three post-season appearances (seasons 7, 8 and 9), accumulating a record of 5-1 with a 2.02 ERA (and 1.14 WHIP) in 8 career post-season starts.

His career in Tacoma came to an end in the pre-season of season 11, when he was traded from Tacoma to the Salem Oles as part of a five man deal. He spent two seasons as an Ole, highlighted by the only 20 win season of his career when he posted a 21-7 record in season 11.

Free agency came calling for Harry after his two seasons in Salem as he signed a three year deal with the San Diego Seagulls. But his best days were behind him, as he could only produce a record of 19-23 in San Diego before being granted his release. His career ended with a lone appearance for the AAA Syracuse Sluggers before announcing his retirement.

Harry was inducted into the Mantle HOF with 25 votes.


A veteran of 15 major league seasons, Keller retired after his playing career ended after season 14. His resume includes 7 All-Star appearances, 2 MVP awards, one Gold Glove as a first baseman and a total of four Silver Slugger awards (2 as a left fielder and two as a first baseman. He retired with a lifetime batting average of .318 with 477 home runs and 1,414 RBI's. He also finished with a lifetime .446 OBP, .592 SLG, and 1.038 OPS, as well as holding the career record for walks with 1,497 free passes earned.

Initially a member of the NL's Chicago Bleacher Bums, he was traded in the middle of season 2 from Chicago to the San Antonio Soggy Bottom Boys in a 3 for 1 deal. Quentin shined in his three seasons as a Soggy Bottom Boy, winning back-to-back AL MVP awards in seasons 3 and 4. His two MVP seasons saw him put up stats of .337 AVG, with 119 home runs and 284 RBI's.

However, fate came calling in season 5 when he was traded from San Antonio to the San Francisco Oles in a late season deal. Appearing in only 20 regular season games for the Oles, he bashed 8 home runs and knocked in 16 down the stretch to lead them into the post-season. It was in that same season in which he made his only World Series appearance, and Keller played a key role in the Oles season 5 World Champiosnhip.

Keller played for the Oles both in San Francisco and also for three seasons after they moved to Salem before becoming a free agent and signing with the Washington D.C. Bullets. But his time in Washington and Rochester (after the franchise moved) saw him in a rapid decline, and he was released in season 14. Unable to find any takers for an aging superstar who was well past his prime, he retired in season 15.

In his career, Keller appeared in the playoffs in six different seasons, playing a total of 36 post-season games. He compiled a career post-season record of .283 AVG with 6 home runs and 32 RBI's, along with a .948 OPS.

Quentin was inducted into the Mantle HOF with 22 votes.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tec's Useless Trivia - Season 16 Version

Here are cumulative standings for each division through Mantle World's first 15 seasons:

AL NorthWLPctGB
Detroit Tigers142610040.5870
Kansas City Blues135810720.55968
Chicago Black Sox135310770.55773
Scranton Apollos132811020.54798
AL EastWLPctGB
Tampa Bay Turnip Greens129811320.5340
Norfolk Fatheaded Statheads121112190.49887
Baltimore Blast112113090.461177
Durham Bulls109113390.449207
AL SouthWLPctGB
Richmond Generals121612140.5000
Jacksonville Seminoles118412460.48732
Jackson Bootleggers110713230.456109
Charlotte Moose Hunters103413960.426182
AL WestWLPctGB
Portland Poltergeists136910610.5630
San Francisco Oles128411460.52885
Colorado Springs Mile High Marines125111790.515118
San Diego Seagulls94014900.387429
NL NorthWLPctGB
Minnesota Mighty Men131211180.5400
Trenton Titans126611640.52146
Milwaukee Suds123311970.50779
New York Apples118412460.487128
NL EastWLPctGB
St. Louis Cards118012500.4860
Dover Drop Bears113412960.46746
New Britain Rock Cats109013400.44990
Rochester North Stars108413460.44696
NL SouthWLPctGB
Florida Lockdown14579730.6000
Texas Long Horns125811720.518199
Louisville Beaners120912210.498248
Oklahoma City Power Failure116212680.478295
NL WestWLPctGB
Anaheim angeldynasty121612140.5000
Vancouver Fighting Skeletons120512250.49616
Oakland Polish Hammers116612640.48050
Albuquerque Isotopes114512850.47171

And if that's not enough trivia to digest at one sitting, lets also take a look at the post season history of each team in Mantle through it's first 15 seasons. The following lists number of division titles, number of wild card appearances, number of LCS titles, number of WS titles, and the number of different owners that each franchise has been managed by:

AL NorthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Detroit Tigers76112
Kansas City Blues29113
Chicago Black Sox23111
Scranton Apollos42001
AL EastDivWCLCSWSOwners
Tampa Bay Turnip Greens90112
Norfolk Fatheaded Statheads41116
Baltimore Blast11101
Durham Bulls11001
AL SouthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Richmond Generals51111
Jacksonville Seminoles51213
Jackson Bootleggers40111
Charlotte Moose Hunters10007
AL WestDivWCLCSWSOwners
Portland Poltergeists82202
San Francisco Oles41211
Colorado Springs Mile High Marines32111
San Diego Seagulls00004
NL NorthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Minnesota Mighty Men63101
Trenton Titans34002
Milwaukee Suds52115
New York Apples12113
NL EastDivWCLCSWSOwners
St. Louis Cards42003
Dover Drop Bears61207
New Britain Rock Cats10004
Rochester North Stars41009
NL SouthDivWCLCSWSOwners
Florida Lockdown103731
Texas Long Horns33003
Louisville Beaners13101
Oklahoma City Power Failure11005
NL WestDivWCLCSWSOwners
Anaheim angeldynasty50102
Vancouver Fighting Skeletons34006
Oakland Polish Hammers30102
Albuquerque Isotopes41003

Friday, January 29, 2010

Santos Canseco No-Hits Salem



Congratulations are in order to Durham Bulls starting pitcher Santos Canseco, who hurled his first career no-hitter in todays PM game versus the Salem Oles. Santos only needed 110 pitches to toss his no-no, allowing only three walks in Durham's 5-0 victory over the Oles in front of a packed house at Durham's Athletic Park on Bart Kirby Bobblehead day. He was perfect for the first 6 1/3 inning until he issued back-to-back walks to Pablo Ordonez and Mitch Ledee, but worked his way out of trouble by inducing a ground out by Keith Higginson and then whiffing Al Rosado to end the inning. The only other runner to reach base for Salem was John Blake on a ninth inning walk.

Bulls owner betrand93 celebrated Canseco's feat by immediately raising the price of all Santos Canseco items in the Bulls gift shop by 33%.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Jonas's Drunken New Years Eve Rant

jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:38 AM Probably a bad idea, but I just found her on facebook.
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:26 AM laksjfkladshkjthawkjhjkanmfasncx,m
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:25 AM Goddamnit. Give me a baby so I can punch it.
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:25 AM I hate all of you. Just because you all would be classified as everyone. And I hate everyone right now.
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:22 AM DOOOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!!
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:22 AM Do it!!!!!
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:22 AM Anyway, my team is so much more dominant than youralls teams it's not even funny. Give me the ****ing world series title now. DO IT! GIVE IT TO ME.
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:21 AM I'm sure I'll read this tomorrow and be ****sed that I sent it out. But GOD DMAN. I mean, ****.
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:20 AM Uggggggggh.
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:19 AM It's five in the ****ing morning, did she think I wasn't actually seriously interested? I've been talking with her for 8 hours or so. I blame tec. *******.
jonas1102 Apples 1/1/2010 6:16 AM All I got to say is **** you, **** your mother and **** all dumbass chicks. Seriously.