First, some closure: The 1972 Pirates defeated the 2001 Mariners in 5 games (or was it 6?). I started playing the quick-start for all-time players in each franchise, got about 45 games in and I think I'm quitting in dismay--the Yankees are 3 games under .500, can't beat the all-time Mariners or Angels, and the bullpen (which should be amazing) is absolutely a train wreck. I believe they "balanced" the teams so that random franchises might have a chance, but I'm again finding that setups like this just aren't passing the sniff test for me right now.
So, instead I'm just focusing on Alt-1915, which is now in March 1916. Even here, though, I've had to mess with some of the bells and whistles. I've turned off the player morale/team chemistry as simply too distracting for me when I'm still learning the GM side of things, and not terribly realistic. For instance, I signed Oscar Charleston as an 18-year-old in mid/late-September 1915. The season ended shortly thereafter, and we have not played a real game since. Nevertheless, when I checked his morale it had bottomed out because...I'm not sure why. He didn't play the last week of the season as an 18-year-old? He didn't make the depth chart that didn't mean anything? Similarly-ish, Dazzy Vance got left off of the Yankees Spring Training roster by the AI (despite being a regular request from would-be trade partners) and his morale was awful. After reading that bad morale would potentially slow or stop player development I decided to turn it off rather than wreck two hall-of-fame careers for reasons I couldn't understand or control. That also frees me up in a few other ways--I'd been carrying a replacement-level player most of 1915 because he was a "captain" personality and would keep the clubhouse happy. But he also clogged a roster spot. And a trade I made with Washington brought back someone who's "disruptive", which led to some concerns. With the morale system turned off, I'm not going to have to worry about either of those things. Maybe I'll turn it on eventually? Don't know.
In any case, as noted we're in Spring Training. I've decided to treat this as they did back in the day and do a "tour" so that I can use more of these ballparks. Of course, it's not quite right since I'm playing real MLB teams and they'd have to tour along with us, but that's OK. I played the first several games in Havana at Almendares Park, then went up to Tampa. After a few more games there we'll set things in New Orleans, then Hot Springs, and finally make our way to Indianapolis and Louisville for the final week before the regular season starts.
Things are looking pretty good, and I'm tickled with the games being held in the stadia I made. Here's a tweet with a link to a video made during one of the games:
So! In case you're curious to see what these things look like in action, here's a view of Almendares Park in Havana, hosting my 1916 Yankees vs. the Newark Peppers during spring training. pic.twitter.com/IYXoN1XQV8
— Andy Rivkin (@asrivkin) February 3, 2021
I'll try to do a preview of 1916, and tie up any loose ends for 1915 that may still be around...
