I'm playing the Tigers of course, and have decided to play only the Justin Verlander starts, except for one against the Nationals, in which Scherzer pitched (wanted to see the realistic graphics of Bryce Harper). In the very first game I played, it was a Spring Training game against the Atlanta Braves, I was cruising and mowing down every Brave in site, the game got to the 5th in where Matt Vasgersian on my game decides to mention the perfect game.
I got to the 9th, and had one out when Andrelton Simmons placed a looper perfectly in between 2nd & short to break up the perfect game.
No big whoop, I would also put together four one-hit shutouts against Minnesota, Joe Mauer got hits early in two of the games, and the game must read real-life menaces like Jamey Carroll (little gnats), who actually has played the Tigers really well as a Indian & Twin. Luke Scott seems to have the Tigers' number in this game as well, as Luke Scott tied a 2-0 game, hitting a game-tying 2-run HR in the 8th & then hitting a walk-off 2-run HR off my relievers as well. Luke Scott used to kill the Tigers as an Oriole, for those that may not know.
There was another game in Houston, which the opposing pitcher was Phillip Humber of all people, and both were pitching great, I only had 4 hits while the Stros couldn't do anything off Verlander. Andy Dirks launched a solo shot to left-center that broke the 0-0 tie in the 7th, thank god because having a no-no with no score could make chances tougher, then during the top of the 9th, I exploded off the bullpen for 8 runs in the top of the 8th. Not sure if the long wait had anything to do with it, but their second hitter that innings got a base hit to break up the Perfect Game.
I have also been cruising through the games by skipping my batting sequences, I'm a bit of a streaky hitter, not to mention free-swinger, so I would simulate the half-innings, so I can just mow people down with J.V.!
At the All-Star Break, The Tigers were in first by 4.5 games over Kansas City, both Prince Fielder & Miguel Cabrera have 30 & 31 HR's (while Fielder has 86 RBI's) -- both were the finalists in the Homerun Derby in which Cabrera won (53 total), then Miguel smacked a 2-run HR in the All-Star Game off of starter Matt Cain, to help in the 11-0 victory over the N.L.
Victor Martinez has been a joke for me, and while shopping for a fix, I saw that Brandon Inge was a free agent, and brought him back to Detroit. In games he plays, I move Cabrera to first & Prince to DH. Brennan Boesch, who was on the roster, before I could cut him, he's done really well for me in the OF & DH, so he has stuck. Torii Hunter really struggled out of the gates in April, but lifted his average as high as .276, and now it sits at around .260 (while batting under .200 against lefties).
Verlander, at the All-Star Break sat at 15-1, 1.20 ERA, 19 GS (18 quality starts), 6 SHO with 225 K's in 142.1 innings -- I have two goals to get the no-hitter or perfect game that I felt was actually a matter of time & for Verlander to break the 383 Ks in a single-season record. Now he appears 400 K's is possible, if he continues the mad path towards it. His only loss came against the Angels.
Like I said it was a matter of time, and in his second start after the All-Star Break in Chicago, Justin Verlander pitched a perfect game on July 24th against the White Sox, with 17 K's! I've had as much as 18 K's, while 15 or 16 are nothing new to me. It was cool to see the team celebrate and lift Verlander up, in the old days video games didn't read like that, I once pitched a no-hitter with John Smoltz (in 1998 or whatever) in which the announcers didn't seem to even bother mentioning the accomplishment, with Smoltz and his teammates acting like it's just another day!
His K rate per 9 Innings is something like 14.5, while his WHIP (Walks + Hits per Innings) is only 0.45!
I will admit, that I am playing at Beginners rate, but yet find opposing pitching still challenging enough to make games interesting, but I'm also known to pitch great on the other levels, I have more of a tough time hitting -- like I said, a bit of a free-swinger, who from time to time gets hot at the right time. One of my favorite moments when I ended up hitting 3 HRs in one inning off of Jarrod Parker in Oakland of all places, the fans were getting quite upset -- plus you should have seen the 3-run moonshot by Prince Fielder!
I haven't had this much fun with a video game athlete since the Cowboys "hey day" in which I used to run Emmitt Smith down people's throats for his annual dosage of 2,000+ rushing yards!
There was some interesting trades by the computer, I was surprised (yet not) to see Justin Morneau hitting for the Nationals, and then to read the trade wire in which the Angels traded Albert Pujols to the San Francisco Giants for a pitching prospect & 1B-Brandon Belt! The Angels and Giants, both underachieving & trailing the Wild Card spot, are trying to make the necessary moves to make the playoffs. We'll have to see how the rest of the season plays out (which will be this weekend) since I only have the game until Sunday night!
Now is it tougher to get a no-no in a video game than say APBA Baseball? I like to say yes, because I have only did it twice my entire life and computers can be glitchy and work against you, yet I was pretty confident after my Spring Training debut that it would definitely happen at some point this week, especially after the string of one-hitters & Verlander making a joke of the league now with his 0.98 ERA, 18-1 record & 283 K's & only 12 walks in 174.2 innings (0.45 WHIP) & 8 SHO's! So on beginner's mode, it may be pretty easy, like I said it felt like a foregone conclusion after the debut, the other night.
I have probably 12 no-hitters in APBA, could be more (two by Greg Maddux), & one perfect game (Don Sutton) -- I happened to get three of my APBA no-hitters on the same day as MLB no-hitters actually happened, which was really weird.
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