The story of Thomas Williams - Called to AAA

How this dynasty is played :
I will play only with the character I've created. I will manage/simulate every game and at bat where the character isn't either pitching or hitting.

As you might notice, I have gained inspiration from a few movies to spice this up. Didn't feel like doing an ordinary dynasty either. Hope you like it! Feel free to suggest new ideas.

Game : MVP Baseball 2005 (PC)
Settings :
Difficulty - All-Star
Sliders - Own
Rosters - Ultimate Rosters v.7.2.
+ MVP 06 mod (waiting for next release before starting MLB action)




Thomas Williams was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. His mother had problems with alcohol and that caused a bitter divorce between Thomas' mother and father when Thomas himself was five. Williams picked up the game of baseball at the age of 10 beside basketball and football. He starred in his High School team but never got into any college due to his background. As a youngster, Thomas hanged with the wrong people that forced him to take part in some actions that would limit his chances in life later on. Williams had always been a power pitcher. As a matter of fact, his fastball was the only thing he ever had in life. After High School Williams worked and tried to make a living out of low-paid jobs. He continued to throw the baseball by himself, developing his fastball.
Now at the age of 23, four years after High School, Williams is stronger and tougher and he wants to get where he wanted to be as a child : pitching in the Major League. There are huge obstacles to overcome, though. His background has scared away many recruiters. He also hasn't played on a competitive level since High School. Williams also doesn't have a big selection of pitches, mainly just his fastball. This is a story of a man trying to beat the impossible and silence the doubters that will step to him on the way to potential greatness.
Williams is headed for the tryouts for the Athletics, Giants, Dodgers and Angels, since these teams are close to Williams' residence.




Player info:
Name : Thomas Williams
Height : 6'4''
Weight : 200
Position : Starting Pitcher
Throws : Right
Bats : Right
Jersey Number : 29

Pitches at the start of the dynasty :
100mph fastball, lacks accuracy
88mph changeup, very weak
83mph curveball, sucks, can't use it

Other skills :
Miserable hitter
Pretty quick due to basketball background
Lacks fielding skills, not much experience under pressure




This guy is a total mystery. The only info about him dates a few years back to his high school career, not much to tell. He has a good fastball but his changeup is too weak to be used constantly. He can't hit. Hasn't played for a few years. Don't expect too much out of the guy...

Last edited by Tuomas on Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Pitch selection history
Pitche selection at the start of the dynasty
4-Seam Fastball - 96
Curveball - 55
Changeup - 60
Pitches improved since beginning:
Curveball - 55 to 60
Pitches added since beginning:
Cutter - 69

Team history
Stockton Ports (A) - 2006
Sacramento Rivercats (AAA) - 2006

Last edited by Tuomas on Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The first tryout I went to was the Dodgers' tryout, naturally. But they never called my name, so I never got a chance to show my stuff. The other guys there were pretty good though, I don't know if I could have competed against them. The exact same thing happened with the Angels. In San Francisco I got called and boy was I nervous to walk on the mound, it had been a long time. I wanted to try my curveball first, just to see if I could still deliver it. The ball dropped about five feet in front of the plate to the dirt. I must've looked real stupid on that one, because the old fat guy told me to leave the mound right after that, I didn't even get a chance to show them my heater!
The Athletics tryout was the best one, I started with my fastball and they looked pretty impressed, so I threw a dozen of them. The I tried my changeup and it missed the plate and got away from the catcher. I remembered having better control than that. Well, after the tryout one of the old guys, scouts or something came up to me and said that most of my pitches were 97mph and one clocked 100mph! I was like what the... I remember bringing it over 90 but over 100? Well they promised to give me a call after a couple of days, I'm pretty excited about that. If they decide to pass on me, I'll probably have to go all the way north to try for the Mariners or something.

nice i will be checking this out .. there will be pics rite?

A finnish guy doing a baseball story, wow thats random. Anyways, good luck with this one. Sign with Angels, they have a good chance of making the playoffs with Vlad and Co.

Looks interesting, I've been wanting to give that game a go for a while now. Good luck with it.

afgshady, yea, who bothers to check a dynasty without pics these days, right? I'll have to find a good screen cap program though, fraps is too heavy for me.

Anthony15, well I got interested in baseball back in 1994 so it shouldn't be as strange as it might seem.

Jae, I highly recommend this game. IMO it's the best sports game ever.

I was at the Mariners' tryout yesterday and at the Padres' today. They both went great. Both teams' staff liked my fastball and said that they will call me during a couple of days. So now it seems I have a chance with Oakland, Seattle and San Diego. I sure hope some of those teams give me a call, I've used all my money on these trips and I sure don't feel like traveling to New York or something.

It had been a week since the last tryout and I started to give up on the whole thing, but I got a call from the Athletics and they wanted to me come to another tryout. It was all the same, I was showing my fastball and only that this time, not to mess things up. After the action they told me to meet them the next day, sounded good to me. Well, they wanted me to sign a contract to their team, but I'd have to start with the A-league team. I was like "okay, sure", because I guess it's just a stepping stone towards something bigger.

I signed to a team named Stockton Ports...? Come again? I've never heard of that team before. I wondered if they even have a real ballpark or anything. Well I hopped on the bus and arrived at the place. There was a trainer or something that took me and showed me around. It was a small place and the ballpark was ok, a little small but I guess a good place to start with. I took a few pictures of the place where my baseball career would begin.




I started to practice my pitching right away. The trainer was a really cool guy, he knew something about this stuff so we started to work on my changeup. The problem I had was that my change dropped too early, I couldn't get enough height to it without losing accuracy. I got it to a point I was almost comfortable throwing it for strikes. Tomorrow was supposed to be the next game but I wasn't starting and I guess I wasn't going to pitch relief either. The starters name was Webb or something and we were playing against the Giants. Not the San Francisco Giants but another A-league team. I ain't very good remembering names.

New York Yankees at Oakland Athletics : 0-2 - Boxscore
New York Yankees at Oakland Athletics : 3-4 - Boxscore
New York Yankees at Oakland Athletics : 0-2 - Boxscore
Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners : 8-3 - Boxscore

San Jose Giants at Stockton Ports : 0-1 - Boxscore



It was the first game I had been in a long time, sitting at the bench though. Ryan Webb was the guy who started for us, he was ok I guess. It appeared that either the pitchers were good or the batters sucked big time since there was only a handful of hits and the only run came at the bottom of the 14th inning. Man, it was the most boring game I've ever been in. I don't know, I might do good against these guys, at least it seems that they can't hit!

I got word that I will start tomorrow against the same team. I haven't developed any pre-game routines yet, so I just might throw a little and then go home watch tv.

might as well be a closer with him

San Jose Giants at Stockton Ports : 8-11 - Boxscore


Thomas Williams warms up for the Ports

This game featured Thomas Williams' debut game in the A-league, as the Ports faced the Giants at home. Many people questioned Williams' condition and readiness to play today but he stepped on the mound anyway. The Ports opened the scoring in the first and it seemed that Williams would have a great start, but in the third inning he gave up a two run homer that opened the scoring for San Jose. He gave up two more homers, six earned runs and 11 hits. His first game clearly didn't impress anybody statistically.

But if you were there, you could see dominance at times. Williams clocked at least 12 fastballs 100mph and over, making a statement about himself as a newcomer that could take the league by storm. Williams struck out six batters, mostly with his fastball. After a few more games and some pitching practice this young man might be on his way up.




My first game and boy was I nervous. I think I started off pretty well and the first two guys missed my fastball by a mile. But the first guy that got the homer looked at me like he owned me when he was standing at the plate, clearly a jerkoff. I'll get at him next time. Simon Klink, yea that's the guy. I let a couple of fastballs get away for hits. Practice tomorrow, gotta work some more. I clearly ain't at the level I could be, what did I allow, 15 hits? Way too much. At least we won, our team was good at bat today. We're continuing the series against these guys, won't be pitching tomorrow, naturally.




Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners : 4-5 - Boxscore
Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners : 6-3 - Boxscore
Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners : 4-3 - Boxscore

San Jose Giants at Stockton Ports : 1-2 - Boxscore
San Jose Giants at Stockton Ports : 5-4 - Boxscore

Very nice presentation Tuomas.I love this game,I might do a dynasty of my own.

Oakland Athletics at Minnesota Twins : 7-1 - Boxscore

Stockton Ports at Bakersfield Blaze : 5-2 - Boxscore

Forgot to take a boxscore of one Stockton game, but I don't think nobody will cry over that




Our team has been doing pretty good so far. Although these guys aren't as good I expected, it's been fun playing here. I've come along pretty well with some of the guys, especially the catcher Powell and Colamarino. Danny Putnam is a great guy too. They kind of joke all the time about me being in the MLB, getting them season tickets, invites to big parties and so on. I still don't want to think about things like that, I live for today.
The organization brought a big time pitching coach from Oakland to help me and Webb on our pitching. He taught me a lot of new stuff and he helped me develop a cut fastball. It's a great thing to learn, although it's not that dependable. I've improved on my curveball as well. I'd like to say that my 1st pitch is the fastball, 2nd one is the curve, then comes the change and the cutter. Let's see if I can do some damage tomorrow. I feel much more confident and relaxed than I have ever been. That might sound funny since I've played only one game so far.

Nice box scores man

Very nice presentation.

Williams = MLB Talent?
Rookie's second game shows signs of big league caliber pitching

Stockton Ports at Bakersfield Blaze : 6-0 - Boxscore


Williams pitches his last pitch of the day, a day that he should remember for a while.

Thomas Williams looked like he belonged to a league much bigger on this night, sending the Blaze to their second straight loss against the Ports. Williams pitched eight full innings allowing only three hits and no runs, striking out an astounding 13 Blaze hitters. The Ports' hitters backed up their steaming hot pitching with 12 hits. The first baseman Brian Colamarino had a great game with a two base hit and a homer.
Williams' pitching was the top story at Stockton and it amazed everybody watching. It seems that he has been able to raise the level of his curveball and started to develop a some kind of a moving fastball to add to his lethal 100 mph heater. On this night that was enough to send the home team looking for the next game and another pitcher. Williams got strike threes swinging and looking providing the fielders with a day off. Williams didn't get the complete game though, since the Ports' manager brought the closer for the last inning to replace the already fatigued starter, who delivered a high amount of pitches.
Not many people might have predicted an outcome like this, but the Ports' organization seems to have great confidence for it's young talent.

"I've seen him in practice and know what he's capable of", said Ports' Colamarino. "He's too fast for me. Luckily, I only have to face him at practice. I think he was and is destined to the top, since day one no doubt."

"His pitching was way out of this league, they should move him to triple-AAA," said Keith Mohler, 1st baseman of the Blaze, who struck out every time of his three at bats.

Last edited by Tuomas on Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wow a three hitter from Williams

Petit had a nice 4 hits as well.

Williams with 13 K's, this is looking great. I love the presentation and the stories. He's like a man amongst childeren.

Great way of presenting this game! Even though I know nothing about baseball, I enjoyed reading those blog entries like Paul Shirley's blog!

This is nice, I've been keeping up with it over at mvpmods

Williams pitches complete game
Pitcher stays cool in the creepy 9th inning

Stockton Ports at San Jose Giants : 3-2 - Boxscore


A familiar sight; Williams fires his fastball for strike three

Thomas Williams dominated once again winning the game for the Ports, that doesn't really give much help on the offensive end. Williams took a no-hitter all the way to the 5th inning and didn't give up another hit until the 9th inning, where he was clearly exhausted and the Stockton manager should have brought in the closer. Instead, Williams was left on the mound to give up three hits and two runs that brought the Giants into striking distance with a man left on base. Williams however reached back and forced the last batter to ground out and end the game.

The decision whether to bring the closer ultimately cost the shutout here. Williams doesn't seem to be a complete game pitcher, especially when giving hits. The Ports' offense has been struggling throughout the season, while still managing to maintain a winning record mostly due to their great pitching.




I had a great game today, at least the first eight innings. I was out of juice in the 8th already but I don't know why the manager wanted me to continue. Too bad it costed a shutout this time. I'm pretty happy with my current situation right now, althought the team seems to have some chemistry problems. Some of the guys have beef towards each other; that's not very professional.
After the game our manager asked me to come to his office. To my surprise there where three older guys as well, staff from the Athletics and the minor teams. They asked me a couple of questions about my personal situations before telling me what they were there for: I was being transferred to the AAA-team, Sacramento Rivercats. I was like "What? After three games?" but they seemed pretty confident and told that they needed relief pitchers due to recent injuries and were ready to give me a shot. Now I'm very happy about this. I don't know if anyone has had a career skyrocket as fast as ine, but it sure feels good. I'm going to start packing and hop on the plane tomorrow.
Oh yea, the organization really shook up their lineups, Colamarino and Putnam are joining me in AAA as well. It's good to have someone else I know in the same situation.




Oakland Athletics organization shakes up minor league lineups
The organization announced that the AAA-team Sacramento Rivercats are calling up pitcher phenom Thomas Williams along with infielder Brant Colamarino and outfielder Danny Putnam. Also other minor movements were made to fill the weary AAA-team's pitching rotation and Athletics' recent injuries.
Williams' situation immediately raised questions as eyebrows as many sport experts are doubtful about his level of play and preparation to play in a league just belove the majors. He is projected to be demoted at least in two weeks when the Rivercats are supposed to activate two of it's relievers from the DL. In other words, Williams has two weeks to prove everybody that he deserves to be in the team he is now.




Here is Williams' player card joining the AAA-team. The player card can be found at the first page of the thread as well.



He still has room for one pitch, any suggestions? I personally thought about adding either a sinker or a splitter, they would seem natural too as he is a fastball pitcher.

I never knew that you could play with lower leagues in this.

Awesome presentation.

I'd go with adding a splitter.

Thats looking real nice. I am anticipating more updates.
Are you seriously watching the cpu play until your player is put in the game?
If so, thats some dedicated player development, 24/7 MVP Baseball style.

Tuomas are you Turma at mvpmods?

Yes to both questions. I'm doing this at both sites. And yes I play ONLY with my character, the cpu decides the fate of the team's offence and other pitching.

Splitter is almost the same thing as a slider, so I reccomend the sinker.