A Win on Opening Day!
Ok, so I started up my season in Out of the Park Baseball 21 (OOTP21) and I am pretty excited. Sure, real baseball is nowhere to be found right now, and though there IS Korean Baseball, it’s not the same as watching my Angels march towards the playoffs.
Well, I think I took care of my itch for baseball on the field yesterday as I watched some of the Korean baseball on ESPN, and while it’s pretty good and all we’ve got right now, it was not MLB.
Today, I took care of scratching my itch for Angels baseball by kicking off Opening Day in my OOTP21 season, and just like how the 2020 season was supposed to go, my Angels started play against the cheaters from Houston.
Opening Day Games
There was a full slate of 15 games set up for Opening Day, and while there were some cool matchups I would have liked to play, I stuck with my Angels vs. Houston.
Here are the other games in store for the first day of the OOTP21 First Timer League Opening Day 2020…
Starting Lineup
Both teams in this game are nicely stacked with Houston featuring Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Alex Bregman, along with right handler Lance McCullers Jr. to start off the season. Meanwhile, the Angels added Anthony Rendon to a lineup that included Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Justin Upton. Today, Houston won’t have to face Ohtani from the batter’s box, though, as he’s throwing off the mound to get his first start of the season.
The Scoring
Houston jumped on the board first in the second inning as George Springer smashed his first home run of the season off Ohtani. It was a solo shot, but it put the Astros on the board first. And shortly after that, Kyle Tucker reached on an error and was driven in by Altuve to make it 2–0 Houston at the end of two.
That lead would not last though…
With an error and singles by Simmons and Fletcher, the Angels got on the board in the third, as Jason Castro scored. That was followed by a 381 foot smack by Justin Upton to put the Angels in the lead 4–2. The team from California would need a bunch more runs, but that was the turning point in the game as they never looked back.
The Angels added a run in the 4th on a double by Jason Castro that scored Luis Rengifo and then broke things open in the 5th with walks to Fletcher and Trout followed by a 3-run home run by Anthony Rendon.
Picking up another run in the 6th and leading 9–2, Ohtani was cruising until the 6th, where he gave up a second solo shot to Springer to cut the lead to 6. Cam Bedrosian came in throwing in the 7th and allowed Altuve to continue his hot day by allowing a triple followed by a Yordan Alvarez 3-run HR to close the gap to 3 runs.
The Astros would go on to score another in the 8th to make the score 9–7, but that’s as close as they got.
The Angles took the opener 9–7 and made a strong statement on Opening Day against the Astros.
Highlights
So while the big news was the victory by my Angles team, there were some other highlights of the simulated game. For one, Jose Altuve had a monster game. He went 5 for 5 with a double and a triple and 2 RBIs. George Springer also had a nice opening day with two homes runs.
The Angels, on the other hand, saw good days by Upton and Rendon, who both hit nice 3-run home runs and the 7–8–9 hitters who went a combined 6 for 11. Rengifo, Castro, and Simmons certainly had the Astros’ number today as they cruised through opening day.
On the mound, Ohtani picked up 7 strikeouts to go with 2 walks, but it’s a bit concerning that he gave up 2 home runs though they were both to Springer – perhaps he should pitch around that guy next time.
It’s a Wrap
Ok, so this was not a real MLB game, but it was fun to play. I think I can really get to liking the OOTP21 baseball sim though I’m not sure I’ll play every one of the 162 Angel games. The cool part about things is that not only is this a play-by-play game simulator, but it also tracks the entire major and minor leagues. I can make trades, call up minor league players, and even assign scouts and pitching coaches – it’s pretty detailed.
For now, while there is no baseball in MLB, I have no problems simulating games and commenting on how they turn out. Sure, I hope my Angels play well, but I know they won’t go 162–0 even in a simulation.
Perhaps they’ll play well enough though that they’ll be able to bring Mike Trout to the playoffs.
Ramble 2020.02.21 | A Win on Opening Day!