Team Preview: Seoul Blue Dragons

Well, it looks like BYU's basketball team just didn't pull it off tonight. It's been 17 years since BYU's won a single NCAA tournament game. I watched the end of the game in the basement of the student center on campus. I was surprised -- there were only 50 or so people there, and most of them seemed to be extremely casual fans. You didn't hear a peep out of them until a basket was made. Sure isn't like watching games at my house!

Ted Roethke asked if I was using the 2008 Koshien layout or not. I'm not. I'm using an earlier version of the stadium, though I can't remember which year it's from. It may be from the 1985 disk that's floating around somewhere. Thanks for the comment, though! Wish I knew more about creating park images.

Now onto the next team, the Seoul Blue Dragons, who are the lone Korea-based team in my league.

Stadium

I decided to use Three River's Stadium for Seoul, though for no good reason other than mixing up stadium styles. I renamed it Jamsil Stadium, to pay slight homage to the real ballpark in Seoul. I wish I had more information to create a replica of that park, but I don't speak Korean, and I can't find much English language literature on Korean baseball. Anyway, Three Rivers is another representative of the butt-ugly "cookie cutter" era of stadium building, as you probably already know, and that's really all I want to say. Seriously, the more I look at Wikipedia's picture of Jamsil Stadium, the more I wished I could recreate that park.

Starting Pitchers
1. Fergie Jenkins
2. Babe Adams
3. Tim Keefe
4. Andy Messersmith
5. Wilbur Cooper
SS. Mel Harder
SS. Jose Rijo
SS. Tsuguhiro Hattori
SS. Firpo Marberry
SS. Bob Stanley

If there were ever an argument for Diamond Mind updating its draft system, this would be it. 5 starters, and 5 players who are listed as spot starters. I'm not sure how the Computer Manager plans on managing this rotation, but it sure is set up strangely. I may have to do some manual editing before this season begins.

Hattori is another one of those incredible Japanese pitchers from the late 1940s. He wasn't exactly a great strikeout artist, but he had a pretty respectable ERA. Should be interesting to watch.

Relief Pitchers
Kenjiro Tamiya (also here)

Tamiya is the only relief pitcher not also listed as a spot starter. What's more,
he's really on this team for his offensive abilities, not as a true pitcher. Oh well.

Starting Lineup
1. King Kelly, C
2. Monte Irvin RF / Willie Keeler RF
3. Silvio Garcia SS / Mickey Mantle CF
4. Mickey Mantle CF / Carlos Delgado 1B
5. Eddie Yost 3B / Wade Boggs 3B
6. George Foster LF / Wally Yonamine LF
7. Andy Thornton 1B / Silvio Garcia SS
8. Bid McPhee 2B

Wally Yonamine was born in Hawaii, grew up in America (if I understand correctly), and was one of the more famous early foreign-born players in Japan. He also played for the San Fransisco 49ers in the 1950s. There's a great short biography of him here, and a website devoted to him here.

King Kelly is actually listed in the game as an outfielder, but is starting at catcher because the CM didn't draft a "real" catcher. He played a good percentage of his games in real life at catcher, so I guess it's okay.

Reserves
Shinichi Eto C / 1B / SS / LF
Toshizo Sakamoto 2B / 3B / SS / LF / CF / RF
John Valentin 2B / 3B / SS
Ray Boone 1B / 3B / SS
Hans Lobert 3B / SS
Jimmy Barrett LF / CF / RF
Brian Jordan LF / CF / RF

Well, that's it from me tonight. I'm looking forward to the beginning of the "real" season next Tuesday and Wednesday, at 6AM EST. I just might set my alarm early for those games!