10 Damn Seasons: A Short But Also Long Refelction

It’s super hard to believe that I’ve gone an FB decade, for me and almost everyone who knows me, it’s been a really wacky ride. So many teams, like the San Diego teams, Giants and Bombers, have been there the whole time, some, like the Boston Red Sox 1, joined later and I’ve had a great time with, but a bunch, like the Average Joes, Suwon Hugo Eagles, Shima, ObZen, maybe not officially, bug basically, etc. left and really saddened me. I’d like to remember what’s happened, not just on the field but off it, so here I go. Just a warning, this is 10 seasons long, and thus is a long read.

Season 88

On August 17, 2020, we became a team, called the Alexandria Yankees88, because I had tried to be the New York Yankees, but that was taken, I personally thought it was because someone else was named Yankees, not New York Yankees. Anyways, shortly after I created, the San Diego Giants said, “wassup Yankees!” on my team page, and I answered, “I’m trash, how about you”. Well, if I had paid some more attention, I would have realized that he was on his way to finishing 46-14 and had been the World Champion a few seasons back. We liked each other well enough, and he was a critical part to helping me start my team up. He gave me free players, gave me some tips, and was a good friend in what was then a hospitable, welcoming community. However, despite the nostalgia I have for those days, my team wasn’t so amazing, as we finished our truncated season at 4-7. In my defense, I did play a rather tough schedule, facing off against the 4-time division winner Honolulu rbis, Anchorage polarbears, a 4-time league winner and the son of the GOAT Spokane Warriors, former World Champion Buffalo Lights, and former runner up Peoria Massacre. So, not that easy. I was still hopeful for the future, and all was well in FB.

Season 89

We chopped the 88 out of our name to become the much more prestigious-sounding Alexandria Yankees, we got some more players from San Diego, and we became respectable, going 37-23 and finishing 13 games behind Giants, and we were 3rd behind the rbis. I still really only chatted with Giants, but eventually I talked to the Portland Cobras, who made the fateful decision to cut Mason Newcomb after he blew a save in the playoffs, which were then single elimination. He gave him to the Giants, and at my request, gave him to me. He was instrumental to our success in future seasons and is in the Team Hall of Fame, and also has the most wins of any Cran pitcher. I still recall this place being a rather friendly place, and midway through that season, I met a team called the Albuquerque BlackBears, and I recommended FAs to him. Those were the days...

Season 90

In the weirdest sense, everything came together that season.. And fell apart. First off, my social circle greatly expanded on the site. I also went 48-12 after moving from Giant’s division, beating him in a 3 game series, the first year with more than just a Subscriber Wild Card and 8 division winners. I later won the league and made the Final 4 before losing to Shima. However, near the end of the season, I made some trades that would prove disastrous, and I had some severe moral failings. First off, I held some pitchers from Giants in my majors, since pitchers declined then, with specific instructions to not have them pitch. Well, on the first game of the season, against the BlackBears, I pitched 2 of the 3 to win the game, earning a lot of ire from Giants, and we ended up in a huge argument over PMs (even in times of conflict, which were rare, it was settled over PM, out of the public eye), it was settling down, but then I promptly botched a release swap, earning more ire and starting more arguments, and in the playoffs versus the Ohawks, I tried to lie about who I’d be playing, which I didn’t do very well, apologized, and did it to Giants. He posted on the team I faced in the league finals, the Philadelphia Woodpeckers, to not trust me, which set off a brief but fiery debate on the team page, which spilled over into PMs, and almost made us lose our friendship. I salvaged it on the promise to find him a great player, which I technically didn’t fulfill until last season (so only 7 seasons late), but we were able to reconcile and restart, and we’re friends today. However, I can’t say for sure, but I worry that what happened had multiple negative effects. For starters, we aren’t as close as we once were, and I worry that our argument sent a message that it was okay to argue publicly. A positive, though: At the end of the season, I stumbled across the page of a first year team that went 39-15: The Boston Red Sox 1.

Season 91

I continued making bad decisions on trading, but they hadn’t set in yet, and I went 44-16, making the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Mount Vernon Boxers. I started talking to teams who I still talk to today, like the Cyclones, Red Sox 1, and the Longballs. I also got into a truckload of fights, I believe (though I may be mixing up the seasons), there were quite a few, but still not many. Then, near the end of the season, something caught my eye: A proposal by the Atlanta Firebirds to do All Stars that never happened. An idea was born, but so much more, too.

Season 92

I continued making bad decisions, constantly swapping players and going all out on scout ratings, a battle I was bound to lose, but I was able to maintain a 42-18 after joining the newly created superpower called the Alpha Ruby East. I came in second, but it was a fun time. However, some other stuff wasn’t as fun, having just gained article permissions, I did way too much, but at least I was good when I wrote. There was a massive end-of-season overhaul, creating an anarchy, but now, we just publish articles at whim. I also started up an All Star voting, Hall of Fame Committee, Hall of Fame, and Awards, and that has really been my legacy. I was getting into more & more fights, but I joined Discord, talked to Shima, and after a huge argument, even chatted up space with ObZen. I was also talking to Red Sox 1, but especially the Suwon Hugo Eagles, we talked Casey Stengel, real life, and so much more. Those were the days, indeed they were.

Season 93
This was the last season where I was still lost in my ways as far as players go, but I did find a home, as the Canberra Cranberries, thus giving me one of the best names on the site imo. Our team had a disappointing start, so I cut everyone and went with a contact-only approach, which briefly worked, and we went 42-18 again, going 28-5 after switching philosophies, and I thought it was the long-term answer (it wasn’t). With the pitchers, I went back and found some old heroes from Season 90, getting Mason Newcomb easy peasy, though the others weren’t so easy, as it took me 3 seasons of pestering the Cyclones to get Lawhorn and 4 to reacquire Wendt. The All Stars prospered, the Hall of Fame Committee survived, but a rather interesting team completely changed the trajectory of my experience: Rhody.

Season 94
Rhody caught my eye by saying some crazy stuff about Giants in a news article. It was a rocky start with me and him, to say the least, however, in time, we at least respected each other. There were a lot of fights at the start, but ultimately, he ironically cooled my temper and now I don’t argue any more. Anyways, we finally turned the corner and started hot, until I went camping, then the team sucked, and a mid-season funk led to a 40-20 finish. I continued having an awesome time talking to Red Sox 1 and Cyclones, and Astronauts too, and that’s just the start of the teams. All Stars went fine, but who knew I was headed for disaster…

Season 95
I thought the contact stuff would stick. It did not lol. With my temper having cooled significantly, I kinda liked to think of myself as a mildly important person on the site. However, my FTV team wasn’t ready for that, and struggled to a 37-23 record, finishing last in the AL East. I called it quits after that and moved to a boring division for some rehab. It may have been a horrible season, but our late season surge using FTV gave me hope… But teams left… But teams also came back…

Season 96
Shima, Hugo Eagles, Average Joes, they all departed. And that’s only the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Many others left in spirit, but Red Sox 1 became semi-active on the site, and we chatted more than ever on Discord, and the original HOF founded, The Chicago WINNERS, returned from a hiatus. He pressed lots of changes and helped fuel a movement that forced me, the Evil Awards Czar, to change the rules. That was not all for the changes, as I started making good trades and won again, going 45-15, winning my division, and winning the league. It was so amazing to be able to do it again, against more tough teams, and as a non-subscriber, it was awesome to, well, beat subscribers. The FTV approach worked out, and then more opportunities came knocking…

Season 97
Congrats for making it this far! Cobras came back, I teased him about Newcomb, and me, Cyclones, and Cobras formed a division made of teams that were Yankees fans and whose names started with C (Cyclones, Cranberries, Cobras). I was sure I’d lose, but no, I actually clinched tonight and I’m currently at 44-13, on pace for my best record since Season 90. I swept the Reds, going 2-0 (they are 52-5), I beat the Bombers once as well. It’s been wacky, and I’m convinced that I might be good and efficient with my cash (current payroll: $12.625M). We’ll see how the playoffs go

It’s been a wild ride for me. It’s really been interesting watching the FB world change, and have me change too, from some random newbie to a battle-hardened veteran who runs Awards, HOF, and All Stars and has 2 leagues on his belt. But one thing has never changed: Whenever I’m playing a good active team, I always feel the way I did at the very beginning: like an underdog. I guess I thought I’d realize that my team wasn’t bad and could hold their own at this point, but I really haven’t. And I think that’s what makes me win.

Hope you enjoyed, on the 22nd of May, I’ll do a Q + A for an article, y’all ask me questions over PM, and I answer them, cause why not?

Cran :)