Jay Buhner - Rightfielder
New York Yankees 1987-1988
Seattle Mariners 1988-2001
Awards
1996 AL Gold Glove - OF
All-Star Selections: 1 (1996)
League Leader
None of note
Career Ranks
AB per HR: 31st
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 31 (733) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 25.8 (436) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 34.5 (502) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Hank Sauer, Jeromy Burnitz, Roger Maris, Cecil Fielder, Darryl Strawberry, Bob Allison, Danny Tartabull, Eric Davis, Dean Palmer, Jesse Barfield
Year-by-Year Win Shars & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1987: 0/0.0
1988: 7/3.4
1989: 8/2.0
1990: 6/1.7
1991: 13/7.0
1992: 16/6.8
1993: 22/7.7
1994: 13/7.7
1995: 16/5.0
1996: 22/6.3
1997: 19/8.0
1998: 8/2.4
1999: 8/1.8
2000: 16/4.3
2001: 0/0.3
Career Win Shares: 174
Career WARP3: 64.6
Would he get my vote?
No. Buhner's trade for Ken Phelps is a part of pop culture thanks to Seinfeld but he certainly won't be part of the HOF. Very consistent peformer when he was a line-up but he had several injuries at various parts of his career and only played more than 100 games once during the final four years of his career. Even if he had been healthy it's unlikely he would have kept up a level of performance high enough to warrant HOF consideration. His Gold Glove in 1996 was a complete joke even by the very low standards of the Gold Glove awards.
Devon White - Centerfielder
California Angels 1985-1990
Toronto Blue Jays 1991-1995
Florida Marlins 1996-1997
Arizona Diamondbacks 1998
Los Angeles Dodgers 1999-2000
Milwaukee Brewers 2001
Awards
1988 AL Gold Glove - OF
1989 AL Gold Glove - OF
1991 AL Gold Glove - OF
1992 AL Gold Glove - OF
1993 AL Gold Glove - OF
1994 AL Gold Glove - OF
1995 AL Gold Glove - OF
All-Star Selections: 3 (1989, 1993, 1998)
League Leader
None of note
Career Ranks
None of note
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 41 (581) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 21.3 (651) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 34.5 (502) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Amos Otis, Claudell Washington, Brady Anderson, Chet Lemon, Marquis Grissom, Johnny Callison, Felipe Alou, Cesar Cedeno, Johnny Damon, Gary Matthews
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1985: 0/0.1
1986: 2/0.6
1987: 17/7.1
1988: 11/5.0
1989: 14/6.2
1990: 7/3.5
1991: 24/10.3
1992: 19/7.5
1993: 20/8.8
1994: 11/5.4
1995: 12/4.3
1996: 18/5.7
1997: 9/2.6
1998: 18/5.1
1999: 12/3.4
2000: 2/0.4
2001: 11/3.1
Career Win Shares: 207
Career WARP3: 79.2
Would he get my vote?
No. During his prime he was an outstanding defensive centerfielder, very deserving for most of the Gold Gloves he won, and a good base stealer but outside of 1991 was never that much of hitter. Only had a career OBP of .319, never hit higher than .283, and struck out a lot which is not a good combination. His similar batters make him look better than he was as only Marquis Grissom had a lower career OPS+.
Jack Morris - Starting Pitcher
Detroit Tigers 1977-1990
Minnesota Twins 1991
Toronto Blue Jays 1992-1993
Cleveland Indians 1994
8th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
2000: 22.24%
2001: 19.61%
2002: 20.55%
2003: 22.78%
2004: 26.28%
2005: 33.33%
2006: 41.15%
Awards
1981 AL Sporting News Pitcher of the Year
1991 World Series MVP
All-Star Selections: 5 (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1991)
League Leader
1981: Wins
1983: Innings Pitched, Strikeouts
1986: Shutouts
1990: Complete Games
1992: Wins
Career Ranks
Wins: 40th
IP: 48th
K: 31st
GS: 34th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 20 (88) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 193 (46) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 39.0 (73) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 122.5 (64) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: 6 (Bob Gibson, Red Ruffing, Amos Rusie, Burleigh Grimes, Bob Feller, Jim Bunning)
Other Similar Pitchers: Dennis Martinez, Tom Glavine, Luis Tiant, Chuck Finley
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacmenet Level (WARP3)
1977: 3/1.0
1978: 4/1.1
1979: 17/6.7
1980: 14/5.3
1981: 16/6.5
1982: 14/4.8
1983: 20/7.6
1984: 14/5.4
1985: 19/8.1
1986: 20/8.3
1987: 21/8.8
1988: 12/4.7
1989: 4/2.4
1990: 8/3.0
1991: 18/7.1
1992: 15/5.7
1993: 1/0.6
1994: 5/2.8
Career Win Shares: 225
Career WARP3: 89.8
Would he get my vote?
No. Morris was incredibly durable, throwing 240+ innings in 11 seasons, and very consistent but was rarely dominant. He never posted an ERA under 3 in his career which is fairness to him was in part to pitching in Tiger Stadium but his career ERA+ of 105 is very unimpressive. He does get a bonus for two excellent World Series but he also had an awful postseason all around in 1992. Now his comp pitchers paint him as a Hall of Famer as he has six current HOFs and one futuer HOF in Tom Glavine but Morris' ERA+ is worse than all of them with only Burleigh Grimes being close at 107 and he's a questionable HOF. His #1 comp is Dennis Martinez who is a very good comp for him but like El Presidente, Morris is not a HOF.
Albert Belle - Leftfielder
Cleveland Indians 1989-1996
Chicago White Sox 1997-1998
Baltimore Orioles 1999-2000
2nd year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
2006: 7.7%
Awards
1993 AL Silver Slugger - OF
1994 AL Silver Slugger - OF
1995 ML Sporting News Player of the Year
1995 AL Silver Slugger - OF
1996 AL Silver Slugger - OF
1998 AL Silver Slugger - OF
All-Star Selections: 5 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997)
League Leader
1993: RBI
1994: Total Bases
1995: Runs, Doubles, Homeruns, Total Bases, Slugging Pct.
1996: RBI
1998: Total Bases, Slugging Pct., OPS, OPS+, Runs Created
Career Ranks
HR: 54th
SLG%: 19th
OPS: 35th
OPS+: 58th
AB/HR: 22nd
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 28 (62) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 137 (117) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 36.1 (187) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 134.5 (94) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Hank Greenberg)
Other Similar Batters: Juan Gonzalez, Carlos Delgado, Jim Edmonds, Jason Giambi, Moises Alou, Vladimir Guerrero, Dick Allen, Rocky Colavito, Tim Salmon
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacmenet Level (WARP3)
1989: 6/0.9
1990: 0/-0.1
1991: 15/4.9
1992: 16/5.3
1993: 27/10.5
1994: 24/11.4
1995: 30/13.7
1996: 31/11.3
1997: 18/5.6
1998: 37/12.3
1999: 24/9.9
2000: 15/4.2
Career Win Shares: 243
Career WARP3: 90.0
Would he get my vote?
No. From a peak standpoint, Belle has a serious case. He was one the most feared and best hitters of the 90's. Four times he posted an OPS+ of better than 150, six times in the Top 10 in the league in slugging, eight times in total bases, nine times in RBI, and nine times in homeruns. Although he isn't listed as one of Belle's comps you can bring up Ralph Kiner who is in the HOF, who like Belle had a very short career and was a dominating power hitter while he was active. But I personally don't view Kiner as a HOF and even though I weigh peak a little more than a player's career I just don't think Belle lasted quite long enough to be a HOF. If his hip had held up just for a couple of more good years I think it would have pushed him over the top. I may also had given him my imaginary vote if he had been a good defensive outfielder but he was below average at best. It was actually a mild surprise he got enough votes last year to stay on the ballot given his on the field and off the field persona but with a much deeper ballot this year I doubt he makes it to 2008.
Wally Joyner - First Baseman
California/Anaheim Angels 1986-1991, 2001
Kansas City Royals 1992-1995
San Diego Padres 1996-1999
Atlanta Braves 2000
Awards
None
All-Star Selections: 1 (1986)
League Leader
None of note
Career Ranks
None of note
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 16 (1106) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 24.9 (482) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 27.5 (603) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Hal McRae, Jeff Conine, Chris Chambliss, Keith Hernandez, Cecil Cooper, Don Mattingly, Felipe Alou, Ken Singleton, Dusty Baker, George Hendrick
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Leven (WARP3)
1986: 21/7.5
1987: 22/8.4
1988: 22/7.7
1989: 19/6.9
1990: 9/2.6
1991: 25/8.2
1992: 14/4.7
1993: 17/7.3
1994: 11/5.0
1995: 18/6.9
1996: 16/4.1
1997: 21/5.2
1998: 22/3.9
1999: 7/2.4
2000: 7/1.0
2001: 2/0.6
Career Win Shares: 253
Career WARP3: 82.3
Would he get my vote?
No. I'm exercising my one year, steroid user boycott when it comes to Joyner...okay maybe not. Nice little hitter but "nice little hitter" isn't a ringing endorsement for a first baseman let alone one who played in the era Joyner did. Great start to his career and I have faint memories after Mark McGwire's horrific 1991 season of A's fans hoping they would sign Joyner as a free agent and release McGwire. Good thing team's typically don't listen to their fans.
Paul O'Neill - Rightfielder
Cincinnati Reds 1985-1992
New York Yankees 1993-2001
Awards
None
All-Star Selections: 5 (1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998)
League Leader
1994: Batting Average
Career Ranks
Doubles: 75th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 4 (401) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 45 (538) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 36.9 (184) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 70.5 (246) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in the HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Bobby Bonilla, Del Ennis, Fred Lynn, Bernie Williams, Reggie Smith, Ruben Sierra, George Hendrick, Ken Boyer, Bob Johnson, Will Clark
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1985: 1/0.1
1986: 0/0.0
1987: 5/1.1
1988: 13/5.2
1989: 18/5.6
1990: 16/5.0
1991: 19/8.6
1992: 13/6.4
1993: 15/7.1
1994: 23/11.5
1995: 18/6.8
1996: 22/8.7
1997: 28/9.2
1998: 26/9.8
1999: 16/5.9
2000: 13/4.4
2001: 13/3.1
Career Win Shares: 259
Career WARP3: 98.6
Would he get my vote?
No. If he could have hit as well as he did in his 30's while he was in his 20's he might have had a case. Went from being a unspectacular corner outfielder with the Reds into a damn good hitter with the Yankees but is no where close to being a HOF. What am I'm trying to figure out is how at age 38 did he steal 22 bases and only be caught three times?
As I've mentioned before I have several redos done that I've just never bothered to do entries on but after doing the Mattingly entry I figured it'd be a good time to do an entry on the year he won the MVP. Also had thought about doing it after last week's Jeff Bagwell debate that popped up in the MLB Offseason Thread, Part II. The poster who was truly against Bagwell as being a HOF was NYankees who while getting completely destroyed in the debate also tried to back up Mattingly's HOF case and made this comment:
And I sort of agreed with him as I chose Mattingly as my choice for the 1986 A.L. MVP although I wouldn't say he got screwed out of the award as Roger Clemens was not a bad choice. So in theory maybe Mattingly should have been a back-to-back MVP winner which would probably have helped his case when it comes to the actual HOF voters. But was Mattingly the right choice in 1985? Mattingly won the MVP without much opposition, taking 23 out of the 28 first place votes as the Yankees had their best team in the 80's winning 97 games although coming up two games short of the Blue Jays. Mattingly of course had a lot to do with the Yankees success as he led the league in doubles, finished 3rd in batting average, 2nd in slugging, 4th in homeruns, and led that all important baseball writer statistic, runs batted in. He knocked in 145 runs in 1985 a whopping 21 more than 2nd place Eddie Murray which was probably the biggest reason he won the MVP.
George Brett received the other five first place votes putting up a phenomenal .335/.436/.585 line with a 30 homeruns and 112 rbi while helping lead the Royals to the A.L. West title. Only three other players received over 100 voting points: Mattingly's teammate Rickey Henderson who hit a then career high 24 homeruns while leading the league with 80 stolen bases and of course a big reason why Mattingly knocked in so many runs, Wade Boggs who hit .368 which would best showing of his career, and Eddie Murray who had his usual strong year. The homicidal, genocidal, suicidal Donnie Moore finish 6th in the voting. Okay I've just wanted an excuse to use that line at some point.
Actual Results
1) Don Mattingly 2) George Brett 3) Rickey Henderson 4) Wade Boggs 5) Eddie Murray 6) Donnie Moore 7) Jesse Barfield 8) George Bell 9) Harold Baines 10) Bret Saberhagen 11) Dan Quisenberry 12) Dave Winfield 13) Carlton Fisk 14) Darrell Evans 15) Ron Guidry 16) Phil Bradley 17) Cal Ripken 18) Kirk Gibson 19) Steve Balboni 20) Tom Henke 21t) Doyle Alexander 21t) Dennis Lamp 21t) Kirby Puckett 24) Damaso Garcia 25) Rich Gedman
#10
171 ERA+, 1.74 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 78.1 VORP, 24 Win Shares
#9
.300/.365/.498, 113 RC, 133 OPS+, .306 EQA, 50.9 VORP, 26 Win Shares
#8
.287/.364/.518, 110 RC, 140 OPS+, .317 EQA, 54.7 VORP, 24 Win Shares
#7
145 ERA+, 4.16 K/BB, 1.06 WHIP, 68.2 VORP, 24 Win Shares
#6
.289/.369/.536, 106 RC, 142 OPS+, .313 EQA, 48.6 VORP, 26 Win Shares
#5
.297/.383/.523, 118 RC, 149 OPS+, .324 EQA, 55.3 VORP, 28 Win Shares
#4
.368/.450/.478, 140 RC, 151 OPS+, .338 EQA, 81.2 VORP, 31 Win Shares
#3
.324/.371/.567, 140 RC, 156 OPS+, .328 EQA, 69.1 VORP, 32 Win Shares
#2
.314/.419/.516, 118 RC, 157 OPS+, .346 EQA, 86.7 VORP, 38 Win Shares
#1
.335/.436/.585, 142 RC, 178 OPS+, .356 EQA, 93.1 VORP, 37 Win Shares
So Mattingly won an MVP in 1985 that he probably shouldn't have won and he lost an MVP in 1986 that he probably should have won. See it all balances out in the end. For the record from 1984 to 1987 on my redos I had Mattingly 3rd, 3rd, 1st, and 8th respectively. Not too shabby but not a Hall of Famer.
Bobby Bonilla - Third Baseman/Rightfielder
Chicago White Sox 1986
Pittsburgh Pirates 1986-1991
New York Mets 1992-1995, 1999
Baltimore Orioles 1995-1996
Florida Marlins 1997-1998
Los Angeles Dodgers 1998
Atlanta Braves 2000
St. Louis Cardinals 2001
Awards
1988 NL Silver Slugger - 3B
1990 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1991 NL Silver Slugger - OF
All-Star Selections: 6 (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995)
League Leader
1991: Doubles, Runs Created
Career Ranks
None of note
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 3 (499) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 96 (229) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 32.0 (239) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 64.5 (278) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Fred Lynn, Paul O'Neill, Dal Ennis, Reggie Smith, Ken Boyer, Robin Ventura, George Hendrick, Todd Zeile, Gary Matthews, Bob Johnson
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1986: 10/3.5
1987: 16/4.4
1988: 31/8.5
1989: 29/11.7
1990: 23/7.4
1991: 31/10.5
1992: 18/5.8
1993: 16/5.7
1994: 19/7.0
1995: 22/9.3
1996: 19/5.2
1997: 21/5.4
1998: 5/0.7
1999: 0/-0.1
2000: 6/-0.1
2001: 1/0.1
Career Win Shares: 267
Career WARP3: 85.1
Would he get my vote?
No. Solid four year peak from 1988-1991 but for me personally I consider his 1991 season to be the only year where he was among the elite players in the game. Of course cashed in on that season but could never live up to the hype coming into New York and fell far below it. Good hitter but not the cornerstone of a lineup that he was paid to be. Poor defensively regardless of the position he played.
Steve Garvey - First Baseman
Los Angeles Dodgers 1969-1982
San Diego Padres 1983-1987
Final year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
1993: 41.61%
1994: 36.48%
1995: 42.61%
1996: 37.23%
1997: 35.31%
1998: 41.23%
1999: 30.18%
2000: 32.06%
2001: 34.17%
2002: 28.39%
2003: 27.82%
2004: 24.31%
2005: 20.54%
2006: 25.96%
Awards
1974 NL MVP
1974 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1975 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1976 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1977 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1978 NLCS MVP
1984 NLCS MVP
All-Star Selections: 10 (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985)
League Leader
1978: Hits
1980: Hits
Career Ranks
Games: 86th
Hits: 70th
Doubles: 91st
RBI: 89th
Total Bases: 78th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 12 (189) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 142 (107) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 31.5 (254) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 130.5 (101) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in the HOF: 1 (Orlando Cepeda)
Other Similar Batters: Al Oliver, Ruben Sierra, John Olerud, Bill Buckner, Mickey Vernon, Cecil Cooper, Chili Davis, Will Clark, Mark Grace
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1969: 0/0.0
1970: 2/1.0
1971: 6/1.9
1972: 8/2.4
1973: 11/2.4
1974: 27/7.1
1975: 25/9.1
1976: 26/9.2
1977: 21/6.1
1978: 25/7.6
1979: 22/8.0
1980: 22/6.9
1981: 13/3.9
1982: 15/3.4
1983: 14/3.9
1984: 15/4.4
1985: 17/5.7
1986: 10/1.3
1987: 0/-0.3
Career Win Shares: 279
Career WARP3: 84.1
Would he get my vote?
No. Was a good player for a long time but he's purely a career case as his peak was unimpressive especially for a first baseman. Had he been a slick fielding, middle infielder then he'd probably be a HOF. One could argue in his favor that his numbers were hurt playing the majority of his career in Dodger Stadium but he had only a 116 OPS+ for his career and never finished in the league's Top 10 in that category which simply isn't going to cut it for a first baseman.
Tony Fernandez - Shortstop
Toronto Blue Jays 1983-1990, 1993, 1998-1999, 2001
San Diego Padres 1991-1992
New York Mets 1993
Cincinnati Reds 1994
New York Yankees 1995
Cleveland Indians 1997
Milwaukee Brewers 2001
Awards
1986 AL Gold Glove - SS
1987 AL Gold Glove - SS
1988 AL Gold Glove - SS
1989 AL Gold Glove - SS
All-Star Selections: 5 (1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1999)
League Leader
1990: Triples
Career Ranks
None of note
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 3 (499) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 51 (477) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 31.5 (254) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 74.0 (225) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 3 (Red Schoendienst, Billy Herman, Pee Wee Reese)
Other Similar Batters: Dick Bartell, Alvin Dark, Dave Concepcion, Jimmie Dykes, Alan Trammell, Garry Templeton, Omar Vizquel
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1983: 1/0.3
1984: 6/2.7
1985: 21/8.9
1986: 24/9.1
1987: 24/10.1
1988: 25/8.6
1989: 20/8.2
1990: 25/10.6
1991: 21/7.5
1992: 15/6.1
1993: 20/8.1
1994: 14/6.0
1995: 9/2.9
1997: 11/3.6
1998: 19/6.6
1999: 20/5.6
2001: 1/0.5
Career Win Shares: 280
Career WARP3: 105.4
Would he get my vote?
No. Not a HOF but I think a much better player than most people remember, including myself, and I think I'd rate him slightly better than Dave Concepcion. An excellent fielder during his prime and almost always a good hitter for a shortstop, only once finishing with an OPS+ of under 90 in a full season, and finished with a career OPS+ of 101. Overlooked I think for several factors as he brokeout when Cal Ripken and Alan Trammell were already established with his power numbers paling in comparison to those two. Then in his 30's he bounced around from a different team almost every year including missing one season due to injury and spending another in Japan. A knock against him is that even though he had 246 career steals he was a poor base stealer being thrown out 36% of the time.
Tommy John - Starting Pitcher
Cleveland Indians 1963-1964
Chicago White Sox 1965-1971
Los Angeles Dodgers 1972-1978
New York Yankees 1979-1982, 1986-1989
California Angels 1982-1985
Oakland Athletics 1985
13th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
1995: 21.30%
1996: 21.70%
1997: 20.51%
1998: 27.27%
1999: 18.71%
2000: 27.05%
2001: 28.35%
2002: 26.91%
2003: 23.39%
2004: 21.94%
2005: 23.84%
2006: 29.61%
Awards
None
All-Star Selections: 4 (1968, 1978, 1979, 1980)
League Leader
1966: Shutouts
1967: Shutouts
1974: Win/Loss %
1980: Shutouts
1982: BB/9
Career Ranks
Wins: 25th
Games: 45th
Innings: 19th
Strikeouts: 47th
Shutouts: 26th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 8 (281) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 137 (116) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 44.0 (53) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 111.0 (76) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: 6 (Robin Roberts, Fergie Jenkins, Early Wynn, Burleigh Grimes, Don Sutton, Eppa Rixey)
Other Similar Pitchers: Jim Kaat, Bert Byleven, Tom Glavine, Tony Mullane
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1963: 1/0.1
1964: 2/1.3
1965: 12/4.5
1966: 15/5.7
1967: 11/4.9
1968: 15/6.6
1969: 17/6.4
1970: 17/7.3
1971: 10/4.0
1972: 11/3.9
1973: 15/4.5
1974: 11/4.1
1976: 13/3.7
1977: 19/6.5
1978: 12/3.4
1979: 23/8.4
1980: 19/6.3
1981: 10/5.3
1982: 12/5.7
1983: 10/3.8
1984: 7/2.7
1985: 1/0.1
1986: 6/2.2
1987: 13/4.0
1988: 7/3.0
1989: 0/0.0
Career Win Shares: 289
Career WARP3: 108.7
Would he get my vote?
No. John's entire case is based on his career counting numbers as he pitched for a very, very long time and usually at an above average to good performance level. But as I've mentioned before I favor peak over career and John's peak is seriously lacking. One knock against Win Shares is that it can underrate pitchers but it is hard to view someone who had only one season in 26 years where he had 20+ Win Shares as a HOF. Besides he already has his place in history by having a surgery named after him so he should be content with that.
Dale Murphy - Outfielder
Atlanta Braves 1976-1990
Philadelphia Phillies 1990-1992
Colorado Rockies 1993
9th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
1999: 19.32%
2000: 23.25%
2001: 18.46%
2002: 14.83%
2003: 11.69%
2004: 8.50%
2005: 10.46%
2006: 10.77%
Awards
1982 NL MVP
1982 NL Gold Glove - OF
1982 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1983 NL MVP
1983 NL Gold Glove - OF
1983 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1984 NL Gold Glove - OF
1984 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1985 NL Gold Glove - OF
1985 NL Silver Sluger - OF
1986 NL Gold Glove - OF
All-Star Selections: 7 (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987)
League Leader
1982: RBI
1983: RBI, Slugging %, Runs Created, OPS
1984: Homeruns, Slugging %, Total Bases, Runs Created
1985: Homeruns, Runs, Walks, Runs Created
1987: Runs Created
Career Ranks
Homeruns: 45th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 31 (54) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 147 (90) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 34.3 (209) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 115.5 (121) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Duke Snider)
Other Similar Batters: Joe Carter, Don Baylor, Ron Santo, Gil Hodges, George Foster, Ruben Sierra, Jack Clark, Ellis Burks, Lee May
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1976: 2/0.3
1977: 2/-0.1
1978: 7/1.4
1979: 11/1.5
1980: 28/9.2
1981: 11/4.3
1982: 32/10.2
1983: 32/10.3
1984: 33/9.8
1985: 31/9.3
1986: 22/6.0
1987: 29/11.5
1988: 12/6.8
1989: 14/2.6
1990: 15/5.0
1991: 13/4.7
1992: 0/-0.8
1993: 0/-0.4
Career Win Shares: 294
Career WARP3: 91.6
Would he get my vote?
No. If I had a real vote I'd be very tempted to give Murphy a sympathy vote as it would be nice to see him get more support and he's actually lost support over the years, nearly falling off the ballot in 2004. With Jim Rice I said he needed two more good seasons but with Murphy I think he needed just one more. He had a very good peak, better than Rice's, as he was just incredible from 1982-1985 but he was washed up by age 32. Although he did win six Gold Gloves at a premium defensive position in centerfield, he was not nearly as good as those six Gold Gloves indicate. He was decent but not great defensively.
Dave Parker - Rightfielder
Pittsburgh Pirates 1973-1983
Cincinnati Reds 1984-1987
Oakland Athletics 1988-1989
Milwaukee Brewers 1990
California Angels 1991
Toronto Blue Jays 1991
11th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
1997: 17.55%
1998: 24.52%
1999: 16.10%
2000: 20.84%
2001: 16.31%
2002: 13.98%
2003: 10.28%
2004: 10.47%
2005: 12.60%
2006: 14.42%
Awards
1977 NL Gold Glove - OF
1978 NL MVP
1978 NL Gold Glove - OF
1979 NL Gold Glove - OF
1985 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1986 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1990 AL Silver Slugger - DH
All-Star Selections: 7 (1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990)
League Leader
1975: Slugging %
1977: Batting Average, Hits, Doubles
1978: Batting Average, Total Bases, Runs Created, Slugging %, OPS, OPS+
1985: Doubles, RBI, Total Bases
1986: Total Bases
Career Ranks
Games: 55th
Hits: 55th
2B: 31st
HR: 80th
RBI: 47th
TB: 42nd
RC: 68th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 26 (68) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 145 (97) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 41.1 (138) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 125.5 (107) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 2 (Tony Perez, Billy Williams)
Other Similar Batters: Luis Gonzalez, Harold Baines, Andre Dawson, Al Oliver, Jim Rice, Rusty Staub, Chili Davis, Dwight Evans
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1973: 4/1.4
1974: 6/1.5
1975: 26/8.6
1976: 23/5.8
1977: 33/10.3
1978: 37/8.8
1979: 31/8.5
1980: 17/3.7
1981: 6/1.1
1982: 7/1.8
1983: 12/4.1
1984: 17/3.4
1985: 29/7.9
1986: 20/4.4
1987: 13/3.2
1988: 10/2.2
1989: 15/3.6
1990: 15/4.9
1991: 6/0.9
Career Win Shares: 327
Career WARP3: 86.3
Would he get my vote?
No. I'll always have a soft spot for the Cobra for the 1989 postseason where he pissed off all around douche bag Kelly Gruber for his flaps down homerun trot in the ALCS and also hit the first of many homeruns for the A's in the World Series. Also I'll say that for anyone who argues Jim Rice for the HOF they better also argue for Parker as well as I don't see how Rice is so close to being elected yet Parker has no chance at all. That being said I couldn't give him the imaginary vote mainly because when you get past his great peak of the late 70's he had a really ordinary career once the 80's started. Outside of 1985 in that decade he was an average and sometimes below average corner outfielder. Had a rifle for an arm and it appears he did deserve his 1977 Gold Glove (26 assists) but overall he was not a good defensive outfielder.
Bert Blyleven - Starting Pitcher
Minnesota Twins 1970-1976, 1985-1988
Texas Rangers 1976-1977
Pittsburgh Pirates 1978-1980
Cleveland Indians 1981-1985
California Angels 1989-1992
10th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
1998: 17.55%
1999: 14.08%
2000: 17.43%
2001: 23.50%
2002: 26.27%
2003: 29.23%
2004: 35.38%
2005: 40.89%
2006: 53.30%
Awards
None
All-Star Selections: 2 (1973, 1985)
League Leader
1971: K/BB
1973: Shutouts, K/BB, ERA+
1977: WHIP
1985: Innings, Strikeouts, Complete Games, Shutouts
1986: Innings, K/BB
1989: Shutouts
Career Ranks
Wins: 26th
IP: 13th
K: 5th
CG: 91st
SHO: 9th
K/BB: 44th
K/9: 99th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 16 (129) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 239 (24) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 50.0 (36) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 120.5 (68) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: 8 (Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Fergie Jenkins, Robin Roberts, Tom Seaver, Early Wynn, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton)
Other Similar Pitchers: Tommy John, Jim Kaat
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1970: 10/3.7
1971: 20/8.4
1972: 19/7.4
1973: 29/12.3
1974: 23/10.0
1975: 21/8.7
1976: 20/9.3
1977: 21/8.2
1978: 16/6.2
1979: 13/3.8
1980: 9/2.9
1981: 14/8.2
1982: 1/0.2
1983: 10/4.3
1984: 20/9.2
1985: 23/9.9
1986: 18/7.9
1987: 18/7.5
1988: 4/2.2
1989: 22/7.9
1990: 3/1.3
1992: 5/2.5
Career Win Shares: 339
Career WARP3: 142.0
Would he get my vote?
Yes. Blyleven's plight to get into the HOF has been well documented by now. Many voters in the past have immediately written him off because he never won a Cy Young and because he had only two All-Star selections. Of course a player's total number of All-Star selections can be taken with a grain of salt since they are based mostly on what a player did the first three months of the season and with pitcher selections they are heavily influenced by their win/loss record. Blyleven for his career was 150-140 with a 3.47 ERA in the first half of the season but 137-110 with a 3.12 ERA in the second half, so he did his best pitching after the ASB. Another reason why Blyleven has been ignored in the past as well is as you see didn't lead his league in many categories. But for his career he was in the Top 10 ERA ten times, Wins six times, WHIP 11 times, Strikeouts 15 times, Complete Games 12 times, and Shutouts ten times. Nevermind of course he's in the Top 10 all-time in both strikeouts and shutouts. In addition of the eight HOF comps he has only Tom Seaver had a better career ERA+. Many writers are slowly coming around and long time holdouts are now voting for him. He certainly won't get in this year as no backloggers have a chance but within the next five years it appears he will get in.
Andre Dawson - Outfielder
Montreal Expos 1976-1986
Chicago Cubs 1987-1992
Boston Red Sox 1993-1994
Florida Marlins 1995-1996
6th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
2002: 45.34%
2003: 50.00%
2004: 50.00%
2005: 52.32%
2006: 60.96%
Awards
1977 NL Rookie of the Year
1980 NL Gold Glove - OF
1980 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1981 NL Gold Glove - OF
1981 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1982 NL Gold Glove - OF
1983 NL Gold Glove - OF
1983 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1984 NL Gold Glove - OF
1985 NL Gold Glove - OF
1987 NL MVP
1987 NL Gold Glove - OF
1987 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1988 NL Gold Glove - OF
All-Star Selections: 8 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
League Leader
1983: Hits, Total Bases
1987: Homeruns, RBI, Total Bases
Career Ranks
Games: 32nd
Hits: 45th
Runs: 85th
HR: 35th
RBI: 29th
2B: 42nd
TB: 24th
RC: 64th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 11 (204) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 164 (68) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 43.7 (115) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 118.0 (118) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 5 (Billy Williams, Tony Perez, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks, Dave Winfield)
Other Similar Batters: Dave Parker, Harold Baines, Dwight Evans, Vada Pinson, Fred McGriff
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1976: 1/0.4
1977: 18/5.8
1978: 21/6.0
1979: 24/5.6
1980: 29/9.1
1981: 25/10.7
1982: 26/9.1
1983: 28/8.0
1984: 12/4.9
1985: 16/4.0
1986: 16/4.8
1987: 20/7.2
1988: 19/7.9
1989: 13/4.8
1990: 22/6.4
1991: 20/5.4
1992: 16/6.4
1993: 7/2.1
1994: 1/0.7
1995: 4/0.2
1996: 2/0.0
Career Win Shares: 340
Career WARP3: 109.5
Would he get my vote?
No. Maybe I'm just too tough on outfielders as I've gone through about five of them on this ballot that I was just underwhelmed enough by them that I can't give them a vote. Dawson is the one I did the most waffling on due to defensive brilliance early in his career although his last three or four Gold Gloves were purely reputation awards. Part of the argument for him seems to be that if he hadn't his knees destroyed by the awful Olympic Stadium turf he would have reached several major career milestones which I wouldn't necessarily disagree with. But injuries and the enviroment you play in are part of the game so I can't really justify giving Dawson a bonus for what he might have done had he played on grass his whole career. I'm just not completely blown away by his peak and unimpressed by his career after age 28. Has received solid support though and if he ever does get in hopefully the HOF does the right thing and has him wear an Expos cap.
Mark McGwire - First Baseman
Oakland Athletics 1986-1997
St. Louis Cardinals 1997-2001
Awards
1987 AL Rookie of the Year
1990 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1992 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
1996 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
1998 NL Silver Slugger - 1B
All-Star Selections: 12 (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
League Leader
1987: Homeruns, Slugging %, HR/AB
1989: HR/AB
1990: Walks
1992: Slugging %, HR/AB, OPS+
1995: HR/AB
1996: Homeruns, OBP, Slugging %, HR/AB, OPS, OPS+
1998: Homeruns, Walks, OBP, Slugging %, HR/AB, Runs Created, OPS, OPS+
1999: Homeruns, RBI, HR/AB, OPS+
Career Ranks
HR: 7th
RBI: 60th
BB: 34th
OBP: 78th
SLG: 10th
HR/AB: 1st
RC: 82nd
OPS: 13th
OPS+: 11th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 36 (41) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 110 (189) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 42.0 (126) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 169.5 (60) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 2 (Harmon Killewbrew, Willie McCovey)
Other Similar Batters: Jim Thome, Jose Canseco, Carlos Delgado, Manny Ramirez, Juan Gonzalez, Norm Cash, Jason Giambi, Dave Kingman
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1986: 1/-0.1
1987: 30/8.9
1988: 28/7.6
1989: 21/7.0
1990: 27/10.0
1991: 18/6.1
1992: 29/10.1
1993: 6/2.5
1994: 6/2.5
1995: 23/7.8
1996: 29/9.8
1997: 25/9.4
1998: 41/11.6
1999: 30/8.6
2000: 20/6.0
2001: 8/1.5
Career Win Shares: 342
Career WARP3: 109.5
Would he get my vote?
Yes. I thought about doing a very long rant about the entire issue regarding if McGwire should go into the HOF or not but we all know that when the results are announced Tuesday he will not have been elected so this issue is going to last for at least one more year so I'm not going to waste my time for now. What I will say when it comes to considering a player for the HOF who has either been proven to have used steroids or have likely used steroids I feel that if a player is a true borderline candidate that use of steroids can tip the scales against a player as being a deserving HOF. Mark McGwire is not a borderline candidate. 7th all-time in homeruns, 10th all-time in Slugging, 11th all-time OPS+, a .394 career OBP, and he averaged 50 homeruns for every 162 games played. Whether or not he will ever get in, it is too early to tell. The projection seems to be he'll get only 25-30% of the vote on this first ballot and this percentage should increase substantially next year as several voters are using an arbitrary one-year boycott for likely steroid users. What is revealed or not revealed in the following years about his use of steroids and the use of others during his playing days will determine if he ever gets in. No one should feel sorry for McGwire if he never gets in but I think it'd be a real shame if he didn't.
Start out by giving kudos to the NFL Network for finally airing the original broadcasts of past Super Bowls, if only a small sample of them but it's a start. I can only hope that is a test run that leads to them airing classic games on a regular basis or at least start putting some of them on DVD like MLB and NBA are now doing. Super Bowl XIII is on tommorrow night and I think I might do a write up on that one.
As I've mentioned in the past my memories of sports begin in 1986. I've been told by my family I already had a big interest in sports before then but for whatever reason I can't remember anything before 1986 and my first sports memory is watching Super Bowl XX with my brother on my parent's bedroom television. We were rooting for the Patriots and not that I remember why, maybe because the Bears dominance had completley wiped out the 49ers dominance of the previous year. Obviously we ended up being dissapointed. Now for ranking the Super Bowls that I've seen, or remember seeing at least, there is no formula to this. It is purely subjective and incredibly biased.
#1 Super Bowl XXIII - 49ers 20, Bengals 16
See what I mean? Ya the first half was nothing special but unless the 49ers win another Super Bowl in a more exciting fashion it will never be trumped as my favorite Super Bowl ever. Still the only one to ever to be decided with a touchdown in the final minute and I hope it stays that way for a long time.
#2 Super Bowl XXXVIII - Patriots 32, Panthers 29
There was nothing to indicate that this would be a classic going into but we all know the NFL is fixed and the Patriots always have to win on a last second field goal or something. Anyways like the halftime show, the 4th quarter of this game was indeed the tits.
#3 Super Bowl XXXII - Broncos 31, Packers 24
Start to finish this might truly be the best Super Bowl ever although had a some what anti-climatic deciding touchdown. I always hated John Elway but I was actually rooting for the Broncos here as for some odd reason I started feelling sorry for the guy's playoff failures. That would change the next year.
#4 Super Bowl XXV - Giants 20, Bills 19
I'm looking forward to watching the re-broadcast of this game as I couldn't appreciate the game at the time. I wanted the entire Giants team dead, especially Leonard Marshall, for ending the 49ers run at a three-peat so I was just pissed when Norwood missed the winning field goal.
#5 Super Bowl XXXIV - Rams 23, Titans 16
Had the most exciting play ending to a Super Bowl ever but for most of the first three quarters this game was a dog but the Rams inability to put the ball in the endzone allowed the Titans to stay in it.
#6 Super Bowl XXXVI - Patriots 20, Rams 17
Big upset with a memorable finish but it took a defensive holding call on a 4th and goal that kept this a game instead of turning into a blowout.
#7 Super Bowl XXXIX - Patriots 24, Eagles 21
Biiiiiiiiiig drop off in quality after the top 6 and this game is put here by default as a late touchdown by the Eagles kind of made it interesting.
#8 Super Bowl XXX - Cowboys 27, Steelers 17
A game that was supposed to be a blowout and may have had a big upset if Neil O'Donnel doesn't groove two interceptions to Larry Brown. Seriously they shouldn't have even given out an MVP award for this one.
#9 Super Bowl XL - Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
Only this high for being competitive but this was an ugly game with terrible officiating.
#10 Super Bowl XXXI - Packers 35, Patriots 21
Three huge touchdowns by the Packers and the Patriots sort of hanging around made this game semi-entertaining but you never got the sense that an upset would happen.
#11 Super Bowl XXVII - Cowboys 30, Bills 13
Now we're getting to the blowouts and this is the top one only because of the Bills shocking halftime lead that was gone by the first minute of the second half.
#12 Super Bowl XXIV - 49ers 55, Broncos 10
BIAS~! Come on you'll never see a more perfect display of offense for four quarters again than what the 49ers did this day. History also forgets that the Broncos did have a very good defense. Ya probably is the worst one of all-time but my list.
#13 Super Bowl XXXVII - Buccaneers 48, Raiders 21
MORE BIAS~! The next best thing to the 49ers winning a Super Bowl is the Raiders losing a Super Bowl. Still one of the hilarious moments in sports history is the Raiders not thinking to change up their playbook at all against their former coach.
#14 Super Bowl XXI - Giants 39, Broncos 20
Well it was competitive for a half.
#15 Super Bowl XXII - Redskins 42, Broncos 10
Well it was competitive for a quarter. Watched the replay the other night and that second quarter of the Redskins is fun to watch.
#16 Super Bowl XX - Bears 46, Patriots 10
It's amazing I still watched sports after this debacle. Only ranked this high for the historic nature of the beating the Bears defense put on the Patriots.
#17 Super Bowl XXIX - 49ers 49, Chargers 26
Ya even my bias can't rate this high as this game was as much a forgone conclusion as you'll ever get and was over by the 3rd play of the game.
#18 Super Bowl XXVI - Redskins 37, Bills 24
The Redskins could have turned this into one of the historic blowouts by they called off the dogs after going up 24-0. The In Living Color special at halftime was much more entertaining than the game.
#19 Super Bowl XXXIII - Broncos 34, Falcons 19
Eww. John Ewlay suddenly now THE GREATEST QUARTERACK EVER according to the media after the game against the The Dirty Bird. Pass.
#20 Super Bowl XXVII - Cowboys 52, Bills 17
Didn't even watch the second half so I missed the Leon Lett play. Only doesn't come in last because I had a genuine rooting interest since there's never been a team in sports I hated more than this 90's Cowboys.
#21 Super Bowl XXXV - Ravens 34, Giants 7
Trent Dilfer. Kerry Collins. Super Bowl quarterbacks. Yikes. Never have I cared less about a Super Bowl going into it and it lived up to my expectations.
When you run simulations like this there will be bizarre results but I wasn't anticipating the '86 Mets getting bounced by the '88 Pirates but it happened and in only five games. Strat-O-Matic hates the Mets apparently as of their five teams only the '88 team survived. The '80 Phillies were also bounced as the '80 Expos got "revenge" for losing out by a game for the division title in 1980.
(16) 1988 Pittsburgh Pirates def. (1) 1986 New York Mets 4-1
Game 1: Mets 6, Pirates 5
Game 2: Pirates 6, Mets 1
Game 3: Pirates 4, Mets 3 11 innings
Game 4: Pirates 2, Mets 0
Game 5: Pirates 4, Mets 3
Bobby Bonilla: 9-20, 6 RBI
(9) 1989 Chicago Cubs def. (8) 1984 Chicago Cubs 4-2
Game 1: '84 Cubs 8, '89 Cubs 6
Game 2: '89 Cubs 9, '84 Cubs 3
Game 3: '89 Cubs 6, '84 Cubs 2
Game 4: '84 Cubs 6, '89 Cubs 2 10 innings
Game 5: '89 Cubs 9, '84 Cubs 5
Game 6: '89 Cubs 12, '84 Cubs 1
Andre Dawson: 9-24, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI
(4) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals def. (13) 1987 New York Mets 4-3
Game 1: Cardinals 3, Mets 2
Game 2: Mets 9, Cardinals 0
Game 3: Mets 4, Cardinals 3
Game 4: Cardinals 6, Mets 1
Game 5: Mets 2, Cardinals 1
Game 6: Cardinals 5, Mets 4
Game 7: Cardinals 5, Mets 3
Vince Coleman: 7 SB
(12) 1981 St. Louis Cardinals def. (5) 1987 St. Louis Cardinals 4-2
Game 1: '87 Cardinals 5, '81 Cardinals 4
Game 2: '81 Cardinals 9, '87 Cardinals 1
Game 3: '81 Cardinals 7, '87 Cardinals 4 10 innings
Game 4: '81 Cardinals 4, '87 Cardinals 0
Game 5: '87 Cardinals 3, '81 Cardinals 2 10 innings
Game 6: '81 Cardinals 7, '87 Cardinals 3
Darrell Porter: 3 HR, 11 RBI
(6) 1983 Philadelphia Phillies def. (11) 1985 New York Mets 4-3
Game 1: Mets 3, Phillies 2
Game 2: Phillies 6, Mets 5 13 innings
Game 3: Phillies 5, Mets 1
Game 4: Mets 2, Phillies 1
Game 5: Mets 4, Phillies 2
Game 6: Phillies 12, Mets 1
Game 7: Phillies 6, Mets 0
Mike Schmidt: 11-28, 7 HR, 13 RBI
(14) 1980 Montreal Expos def. (3) 1980 Philadelphia Phillies 4-1
Game 1: Phillies 4, Expos 3
Game 2: Expos 6, Phillies 4
Game 3: Expos 5, Phillies 2
Game 4: Expos 4, Phillies 2
Game 5: Expos 3, Phillies 1
Scott Sanderson: 2-0, 1.69 ERA
(7) 1988 New York Mets def. (10) 1981 Montreal Expos 4-2
Game 1: Mets 4, Expos 1
Game 2: Expos 5, Mets 3
Game 3: Expos 7, Mets 6 13 innings
Game 4: Mets 7, Expos 0
Game 5: Mets 7, Expos 6
Game 6: Mets 2, Expos 1
David Cone: 2-0, 0.53 ERA, 17 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 16 SO
(2) 1982 St. Louis Cardinals def. (15) 1984 New York Mets 4-2
Game 1: Cardinals 5, Mets 4
Game 2: Cardinals 4, Mets 3 10 innings
Game 3: Mets 5, Cardinals 4
Game 4: Cardinals 12, Mets 5
Game 5: Mets 8, Cardinals 5
Game 6: Cardinals 5, Mets 3 11 innings
George Hendrick: 10-28, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 6 RBI
N.L. East Division Quarterfinal Match-ups
(16) '88 Pirates vs. (9) '89 Cubs
(12) '81 Cardinals vs. (4) '85 Cardinals
(14) '80 Expos vs. (6) '83 Phillies
(7) '88 Mets vs. (2) '82 Cardinals
Up Next: A.L. West
The A.L. West features three World Champions, two of them on paper being the two weakest World Series winners in that decade. The Royals lead the way with five teams as some may forget at one time they weren't a complete joke. The White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners have just one team a piece, Mariners being the only franchise in the 80's who failed to have a winning record with their '87 team leading the way with 78 wins. Can they shock the world and upset the '89 A's in the 1st Round?
#1
1989 Oakland Athletics (99-63, defeated San Francisco 4-0 in World Series)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 118 (1st)
DefEff: .715 (1st)
Best Player: Rickey Henderson
Best Pitcher: Mike Moore
#2
1985 Kansas City Royals (91-71, defeated St. Louis 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 95 (t-12th)
ERA+: 119 (2nd)
DefEff: .701 (8th)
Best Player: George Brett
Best Pitcher: Brett Saberhagen
#3
1987 Minnesota Twins (85-77, defeated St. Louis 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 96 (10th)
ERA+: 100 (t-8th)
DefEff: .700 (t-6th)
Best Player: Kirby Puckett
Best Pitcher: Frank Viola
#4
1988 Oakland Athletics (104-58, lost to Los Angeles 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 109 (4th)
ERA+: 110 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .710 (4th)
Best Player: Jose Canseco
Best Pitcher: Dave Stewart
#5
1980 Kansas City Royals (97-65, lost to Philadelphia 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-4th)
ERA+: 105 (5th)
DefEff: .707 (3rd)
Best Player: George Brett
Best Pitcher: Larry Gura
#6
1983 Chicago White Sox (99-63, lost to Baltimore 3-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 100 (t-6th)
ERA+: 114 (2nd)
DefEff: .712 (2nd)
Best Player: Carlton Fisk
Best Pitcher: Richard Dotson
#7
1981 Oakland Athletics (64-45, lost to New York 3-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 103 (9th)
ERA+: 105 (3rd)
DefEff: .732 (2nd)
Best Player: Rickey Henderson
Best Pitcher: Steve McCatty
#8
1982 California Angels (93-69, lost to Milwaukee 3-2 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (2nd)
ERA+: 107 (t-3rd)
DefEff: .712 (4th)
Best Player: Doug DiCinces
Best Pitcher: Geoff Zahn
#9
1986 California Angels (92-70, lost to Boston 4-3 in ALCS)
OPS+: 103 (t-6th)
ERA+: 107 (4th)
DefEff: .715 (3rd)
Best Player: Brian Downing
Best Pitcher: Mike Witt
#10
1984 Kansas City Royals (84-78, lost to Detroit 3-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 97 (t-8th)
ERA+: 103 (6th)
DefEff: .711 (4th)
Best Player: Willie Wilson
Best Pitcher: Dan Quisenberry
#11
1989 Kansas City Royals (92-70, finished 7 games behind Oakland)
OPS+: 98 (t-8th)
ERA+: 109 (t-3rd)
DefEff: .692 (11th)
Best Player: Kevin Seitzer
Best Pitcher: Bret Saberhagen
#12
1988 Minnesota Twins (91-71, finished 13 games behind Oakland)
OPS+: 110 (t-2nd)
ERA+: 104 (t-4th)
DefEff: .699 (6th)
Best Player: Kirby Puckett
Best Pitcher: Frank Viola
#13
1982 Kansas City Royals (90-72, finished 3 games behind California)
OPS+: 109 (3rd)
ERA+: 100 (t-8th)
DefEff: .716 (3rd)
Best Player: George Brett
Best Pitcher: Dan Quisenberry
#14
1985 California Angels (90-72, finished 1 game behind Kansas City)
OPS+: 97 (8th)
ERA+: 105 (t-6th)
DefEff: .710 (t-4th)
Best Player: Brian Downing
Best Pitcher: Donnie Moore
#15
1981 Texas Rangers (57-48, second best overall record in A.L. West)
OPS+: 105 (t-5th)
ERA+: 102 (t-6th)
DefEff: .713 (t-5th)
Best Player: Buddy Bell
Best Pitcher: Doc Medich
#16
1987 Seattle Mariners (78-84, finished 7 games behind Minnesota)
OPS+: 97 (t-8th)
ERA+: 105 (5th)
DefEff: .694 (10th)
Best Player: Phil Bradley
Best Pitcher: Mark Langston
1st Round Match-ups
'87 Mariners vs. '89 A's
'86 Angels vs. '82 Angels
'82 Royals vs. '88 A's
'88 Twins vs. '80 Royals
'89 Royals vs. '83 White Sox
'85 Angels vs. '87 Twins
'84 Royals vs. '81 A's
'81 Rangers vs. '85 Royals
The 1987 Seattle Mariners beat the 1989 Oakland A's. Yup, this tournament is a mess. In fact only two higher seeds advance in the 1st Round of this division/region. Thought about scrapping the whole idea but might as well see how bizarre this gets and see if every 16 seed advances. All three A's teams were bounced so definately can't be accused of fixing this.
(16) 1987 Seattle Mariners def. (1) 1989 Oakland Athletics 4-3
Game 1: Mariners 4, A's 3 15 innings
Game 2: A's 8, Mariners 3
Game 3: A's 4, Mariners 3 10 innings
Game 4: Mariners 6, A's 5 12 innings
Game 5: Mariners 4, A's 0
Game 6: A's 3, Mariners 1
Game 7: Mariners 7, A's 3
Phil Bradley: 14-32, 5 2B
(9) 1986 California Angels def. (8) 1982 California Angels 4-2
Game 1: '82 Angels 8, '86 Angels 0
Game 2: '86 Angels 6, '82 Angels 4
Game 3: '86 Angels 4, '82 Angels 3 10 innings
Game 4: '86 Angels 9, '82 Angels 5
Game 5: '82 Angels 5, '86 Angels 3 13 innings
Game 6: '86 Angels 4, '82 Angels 0
Brian Downing ('86): 4 HR, 7 RBI
(13) 1982 Kansas City Royals def. (4) 1988 Oakland Athletics 4-2
Game 1: A's 2, Royals 1 11 innings
Game 2: Royals 6, A's 1
Game 3: Royals 4, A's 3
Game 4: Royals 7, A's 2
Game 5: A's 5, Royals 1
Game 6: Royals 2, A's 1
Vida Blue: 2-0, 1.06 ERA
(12) 1988 Minnesota Twins def. (5) 1980 Kansas City Royals 4-3
Game 1: Royals 4, Twins 1
Game 2: Royals 3, Twins 2
Game 3: Twins 4, Royals 2
Game 4: Twins 6, Royals 3
Game 5: Royals 8, Twins 2
Game 6: Twins 6, Royals 4
Game 7: Twins 6, Royals 4
Tom Herr: 10-27, 3 SB
(6) 1983 Chicago White Sox def. (11) 1989 Kansas City Royals 4-2
Game 1: Royals 5, White Sox 1
Game 2: Royals 9, White Sox 4
Game 3: White Sox 5, Royals 1
Game 4: White Sox 2, Royals 0
Game 5: White Sox 4, Royals 2
Game 6: White Sox 5, Royals 3
Harold Baines: 11-26, 2 HR, 6 RBI
(3) 1987 Minnesota Twins def. (14) 1985 California Angels 4-1
Game 1: Angels 7, Twins 4
Game 2: Twins 7, Angels 5
Game 3: Twins 2, Angels 0
Game 4: Twins 2, Angels 0
Game 5: Twins 6, Angels 0
Tom Brunansky: 3 HR, 6 RBI
(10) 1984 Kansas City Royals def. (7) 1981 Oakland Athletics 4-1
Game 1: A's 1, Royals 0 10 innings
Game 2: Royals 3, A's 1
Game 3: Royals 2, A's 0
Game 4: Royals 5, A's 1
Game 5: Royals 4, A's 2
Royals' Team ERA: 0.99
(15) 1981 Texas Rangers def. (2) 1985 Kansas City Royals 4-2
Game 1: Royals 7, Rangers 6 10 innings
Game 2: Rangers 9, Royals 2
Game 3: Rangers 8, Royals 7
Game 4: Rangers 4, Royals 2
Game 5: Royals 7, Rangers 3
Game 6: Rangers 12, Royals 0
Mickey Rivers: 14-27, 7 RBI
A.L. West Quarterfinal Match-ups
(16) '87 Mariners vs. (9) '86 Angels
(13) '82 Royals vs. (12) '88 Twins
(6) '83 White Sox vs. (3) '87 Twins
(15) '81 Rangers vs. (10) '84 Royals
Up Next: N.L. West
The Dodgers were the only team in the '80s to win two World Championships and there were the only N.L. West team to win a title so not surprisingly they lead the way here with six teams, although we saw having a lot of teams didn't really help the Mets in the N.L. East. Every other team here has two reps including the Reds who were the only team in the the N.L. West to not win a division title in the decade although their '81 team was robbed of one.
#1
1988 Los Angeles Dodgers (94-67, defeated Oakland 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 97 (9th)
ERA+: 113 (2nd)
DefEff: .708 (7th)
Best Player: Kirk Gibson
Best Pitcher: Orel Hershiser
#2
1981 Los Angeles Dodgers (63-47, defeated New York 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 106 (4th)
ERA+: 110 (2nd)
DefEff: .711 (5th)
Best Player: Dusty Baker
Best Pitcher: Fernando Valenzuela
#3
1989 San Francisco Giants (92-70, lost to Oakland 4-0 in World Series)
OPS+: 110 (1st)
ERA+: 103 (t-4th)
DefEff: .725 (1st)
Best Player: Will Clark/Kevin Mitchell
Best Pitcher: Scott Garrelts
#4
1984 San Diego Padres (92-70, lost to Detroit 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 98 (t-7th)
ERA+: 102 (6th)
DefEff: .721 (1st)
Best Player: Tony Gwynn
Best Pitcher: Goose Gossage
#5
1986 Houston Astros (96-66, lost to New York 4-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 106 (2nd)
ERA+: 114 (t-1st)
DefEff: .720 (t-1st)
Best Player: Kevin Bass
Best Pitcher: Mike Scott
#6
1985 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67, lost to St. Louis 4-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 108 (t-1st)
ERA+: 116 (1st)
DefEff: .713 (t-4th)
Best Player: Pedro Guerrero
Best Pitcher: Orel Hershiser
#7
1980 Houston Astros (93-70, lost to Philadelphia 3-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 105 (5th)
ERA+: 106 (3rd)
DefEff: .703 (t-4th)
Best Player: Cesar Cedeno
Best Pitcher: Vern Ruhle
#8
1983 Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71, lost to Philadelphia 3-1 in NLCS)
OPS+: 100 (t-9th)
ERA+: 116 (1st)
DefEff: .702 (6th)
Best Player: Pedro Guerrero
Best Pitcher: Bob Welch
#9
1987 San Francisco Giants (90-72, lost to St. Louis 4-3 in NLCS)
OPS+: 110 (2nd)
ERA+: 104 (4th)
DefEff: .698 (t-4th)
Best Player: Will Clark
Best Pitcher: Kelly Downs
#10
1982 Atlanta Braves (89-73, lost to St. Louis 3-0 in NLCS)
OPS+: 100 (6th)
ERA+: 98 (t-6th)
DefEff: .695 (t-7th)
Best Player: Dale Murphy
Best Pitcher: Gene Garber
#11
1981 Cincinnati Reds (66-42, best overall record in MLB)
OPS+: 111 (1st)
ERA+: 96 (9th)
DefEff: .717 (2nd)
Best Player: George Foster
Best Pitcher: Tom Seaver
#12
1980 Los Angeles Dodgers (92-71, lost one game playoff to Houston)
OPS+: 108 (1st)
ERA+: 107 (2nd)
DefEff: .715 (1st)
Best Player: Dusty Baker
Best Pitcher: Jerry Reuss
#13
1985 Cincinnati Reds (89-72, finished 5 ½ games behind Los Angeles)
OPS+: 100 (7th)
ERA+: 102 (5th)
DefEff: .713 (4th)
Best Player: Dave Parker
Best Pitcher: Tom Browning
#14
1989 San Diego Padres (89-73, finished 3 games behind San Francisco)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 103 (t-4th)
DefEff: .707 (7th)
Best Player: Jack Clark
Best Pitcher: Mark Davis
#15
1983 Atlanta Braves (88-74, finished 3 games behind Los Angeles)
OPS+: 107 (t-1st)
ERA+: 106 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .698 (8th)
Best Player: Dale Murphy
Best Pitcher: Craig McMurtry
#16
1982 Los Angeles Dodgers (88-74, finished 1 game behind Atlanta)
OPS+: 108 (1st)
ERA+: 106 (3rd)
DefEff: .709 (3rd)
Best Player: Pedro Guerrero
Best Pitcher: Fernando Valenzuela
First Round Match-ups
'82 Dodgers vs. '88 Dodgers
'87 Giants vs. '83 Dodgers
'85 Reds vs. '84 Padres
'80 Dodgers vs. '86 Astros
'81 Reds vs. '85 Dodgers
'89 Padres vs. '89 Giants
'82 Braves vs. '80 Astros
'83 Braves vs. '81 Dodgers
The biggest shock of the tournament so far...a #1 seed advances! Unfortunately it had to be the '88 Dodgers. We had our first sweep of the tournament as the '80 Astros made easy work of the '82 Braves. The '89 Giants nearly blew a 3-0 series lead but pull it out in seven over the '89 Padres. Plenty of upsets as usual as the #12, #13, and #15 seeds all advanced.
(1) 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (16) 1982 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3
Game 1: '88 Dodgers 4, '82 Dodgers 2
Game 2: '82 Dodgers 3, '88 Dodgers 0
Game 3: '88 Dodgers 7, '82 Dodgers 4
Game 4: '88 Dodgers 4, '82 Dodgers 1
Game 5: '82 Dodgers 4, '88 Dodgers 1
Game 6: '82 Dodgers 3, '88 Dodgers 1
Game 7: '88 Dodgers 10, '82 Dodgers 0
Orel Hershiser: 3-0, 1.13 ERA
(9) 1987 San Francisco Giants def. (8) 1983 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
Game 1: Giants 5, Dodgers 0
Game 2: Giants 3, Dodgers 1
Game 3: Giants 9, Dodgers 1
Game 4: Dodgers 10, Giants 8 12 innings
Game 5: Giants 8, Dodgers 2
Candy Maldonado (SF): 9-21, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI
(13) 1985 Cincinnati Reds def. (4) 1984 San Diego Padres 4-1
Game 1: Reds 6, Padres 3
Game 2: Reds 4, Padres 3 10 innings
Game 3: Padres 5, Reds 1
Game 4: Reds 3, Padres 1
Game 5: Reds 4, Padres 0
Tom Browning: 2-0, 1.20 ERA
(12) 1980 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (5) 1986 Houston Astros 4-2
Game 1: Astros 6, Dodgers 0
Game 2: Dodgers 7, Astros 1
Game 3: Astros 4, Dodgers 2
Game 4: Dodgers 3, Astros 2
Game 5: Dodgers 4, Astros 2
Game 6: Dodgers 11, Astros 3
Steve Garvey: 11-24, 3 2B
(6) 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (11) 1981 Cincinnati Reds 4-1
Game 1: Dodgers 4, Reds 2
Game 2: Dodgers 5, Reds 4
Game 3: Dodgers 9, Reds 8 11 innings
Game 4: Reds 5, Dodgers 0
Game 5: Dodgers 9, Reds 0
Bill Madlock: 9-21, 5 RBI
(3) 1989 San Francisco Giants def. (14) 1989 San Diego Padres 4-3
Game 1: Giants 5, Padres 1
Game 2: Giants 3, Padres 0
Game 3: Giants 11, Padres 3
Game 4: Padres 7, Giants 2
Game 5: Padres 6, Giants 2
Game 6: Padres 5, Giants 2
Game 7: Giants 8, Padres 0
Rick Reuschel: One-hitter in Game 2
(7) 1980 Houston Astros def. (10) 1982 Atlanta Braves 4-0
Game 1: Astros 6, Braves 3
Game 2: Astros 3, Braves 2 16 innings
Game 3: Astros 12, Braves 6
Game 4: Astros 2, Braves 0
Joe Morgan: 3 HR, 5 RBI
(15) 1983 Atlanta Braves def. (2) 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3
Game 1: Dodgers 4, Braves 3
Game 2: Braves 8, Dodgers 7
Game 3: Braves 5, Dodgers 1
Game 4: Dodgers 6, Braves 5 10 innings
Game 5: Braves 3, Dodgers 0
Game 6: Dodgers 7, Braves 2
Game 7: Braves 6, Dodgers 1
Bruce Benedict: 15-25 (.625)
N.L. West Quarterfinal Match-ups
(9) '87 Giants vs. (1) '88 Dodgers
(13) '85 Reds vs. (12) '80 Dodgers
(6) '85 Dodgers vs. (3) '89 Giants
(15) '83 Braves vs. (7) '80 Astros
Up Next: A.L. East
Now for the final region/division in the tournament, the A.L. East. The East features just two World Champions but is loaded with great teams who came up just short of winning their division. During the 80's seven of the nine normal pennant chases in the division were decided by three games or less. Of course given how this tournament has gone the '86 Indians will probably win the region as they get in as the only Indians team of the decade to have a winning record.
#1
1984 Detroit Tigers (104-58, defeated San Diego 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 112 (1st)
DefEff: .713 (3rd)
Best Player: Alan Trammell
Best Pitcher: Willie Hernandez
#2
1983 Baltimore Orioles (98-64, defeated Philadelphia 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 111 (2nd)
ERA+: 108 (3rd)
DefEff: .705 (5th)
Best Player: Cal Ripken
Best Pitcher: Scott McGregor
#3
1986 Boston Red Sox (95-66, lost to New York 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 106 (5th)
DefEff: .686 (12th)
Best Player: Wade Boggs
Best Pitcher: Roger Clemens
#4
1982 Milwaukee Brewers (95-67, lost to St. Louis 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 121 (1st)
ERA+: 95 (11th)
DefEff: .702 (9th)
Best Player: Robin Yount
Best Pitcher: Pete Vukovich
#5
1981 New York Yankees (59-48, lost to Los Angeles 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 124 (1st)
DefEff: .721 (3rd)
Best Player: Dave Winfield
Best Pitcher: Goose Gossage
#6
1980 New York Yankees (103-59, lost to Kansas City 3-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 112 (1st)
ERA+: 109 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .699 (t-6th)
Best Player: Reggie Jackson
Best Pitcher: Tommy John
#7
1985 Toronto Blue Jays (99-62, lost to Kansas City 4-3 in ALCS)
OPS+: 104 (t-4th)
ERA+: 128 (1st)
DefEff: .724 (1st)
Best Player: Jesse Barfield
Best Pitcher: Dave Stieb
#8
1987 Detroit Tigers (98-64, lost to Minnesota 4-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 106 (4th)
DefEff: .705 (3rd)
Best Player: Alan Trammell
Best Pitcher: Jack Morris
#9
1988 Boston Red Sox (89-73, lost to Oakland 4-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 104 (t-4th)
DefEff: .693 (t-12th)
Best Player: Wade Boggs
Best Pitcher: Roger Clemens
#10
1989 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73, lost to Oakland 4-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 105 (2nd)
ERA+: 105 (5th)
DefEff: .704 (t-5th)
Best Player: Fred McGriff
Best Pitcher: Tom Henke
#11
1980 Baltimore Orioles (100-62, finished 3 games behind New York)
OPS+: 107 (t-4th)
ERA+: 109 (t-2nd)
DefEFf: .709 (2nd)
Best Player: Al Bumbry
Best Pitcher: Steve Stone
#12
1985 New York Yankees (97-64, finished 2 games behind Toronto)
OPS+: 112 (1st)
ERA+: 109 (3rd)
DefEff: .710 (t-4th)
Best Player: Rickey Henderson
Best Pitcher: Ron Guidry
#13
1987 Toronto Blue Jays (96-66, finished 2 games behind Detroit)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 121 (1st)
DefEff: .712 (2nd)
Best Player: George Bell
Best Pitcher: Jimmy Key
#14
1982 Baltimore Orioles (94-68, finished 1 game behind Milwaukee)
OPS+: 108 (4th)
ERA+: 101 (7th)
DefEff: .719 (2nd)
Best Player: Eddie Murray
Best Pitcher: Jim Palmer
#15
1981 Milwaukee Brewers (62-47, lost to New York 3-2 in ALDS)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 88 (14th)
DefEff: .705 (10th)
Best Player: Cecil Cooper
Best Pitcher: Rollie Fingers
#16
1986 Cleveland Indians (84-78, finished 11 ½ games behind Boston)
OPS+: 109 (2nd)
ERA+: 90 (t-12th)
DefEff: .695 (10th)
Best Player: Joe Carter
Best Pitcher: Tom Candiotti
A.L. East 1st Round Match-ups
'86 Indians vs. '84 Tigers
'88 Red Sox vs. '87 Tigers
'87 Blue Jays vs. '82 Brewers
'85 Yankees vs. '81 Yankees
'80 Orioles vs. '80 Yankees
'82 Orioles vs. '86 Red Sox
'89 Blue Jays vs. '85 Blue Jays
'81 Brewers vs. '83 Orioles
As many of you know the TSM Fantasy Baseball Draft is currently going on. I personally don't really even like playing fantasy baseball that much as I never want to be on those people rooting for players on the team who's playing against their favorite team. Because of this I never play for money as I have enough things to worry about than if Brett Myers gets 10 strikeouts and smacks his wife three times so I can win my game that week. This is the 4th year of the league with it being the 2nd year of the current incarnation run by MJ Styles. The first two years of the league were run by Lightning Flik and in those two years I had one of the best teams in the league, reaching the championship game both years although losing the title both years. I had Albert Pujols and Bobby Abreu both seasons and all was right with the world. But when Lightning Flik left the board, I think at least, the league was rebooted and all keepers were gone. No biggie but when I drew the 17th pick in the draft order I knew there'd be no Pujols left for me and I proceeded to draft one of the worst teams in the league, finshing 15th out of 20 and not even qualifying for the consolation bracket.
Here's a recap of my terrible draft from last year. Feel free to point and laugh.
1. Carl Crawford - (Final Yahoo Ranking: 20th, 89 R, 183 H, 18 HR, 77 RBI, 58 SB, .348 OBP)
This is another reason why I don't really like fantasy baseball is that because of stolen bases a player like Crawford is a superstar in fantasy baseball. He's a good player no doubt but no one would ever think of Crawford as one of the elite players in baseball.
2. Rich Harden - (Final Ranking: 379th, 46.2 IP, 4 W, 0 SV, 46 K, 0 HLD, 4.24 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
I didn't follow Rule #1 of fantasy sports: Don't draft players from your favorite team. Harden certainly has the talent of a pitcher to be drafted this high and I gambled on him finally having an injury free year and lost badly. I did end up keeping him as I had hardly any players worth keeping but we were required to keep four so maybe Harden will finally pitch 200 innings this year. And maybe the Royals will win the World Series.
3. Chad Tracy - (Final Ranking: 175th, 91 R, 168 H, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 5 SB, .343 OBP)
Ugh. I had a hard on for Tracy going into last season as I was convinced he'd have a breakout year and plus he also had eligiblity at three positions. Had a decent year but no where near a 3rd round pick.
4. Brett Myers - (Final Ranking: 73rd, 198 IP, 12 W, 0 SV, 189 K, 0 H, 3.91 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)
This was one of my few solid picks as based on the Yahoo rankings he ended up being worth exactly a 4th round pick thus I ended up having to keep him almost by default.
5. Bobby Crosby (Final Ranking: 613th, 42 R, 82 H, 9 HR, 40 RBI, 8 SB, .298 OBP)
I forgot one of my own rules here: If ESPN "experts" are really high on a player assume he'll be terrible. Now I didn't think Crosby was going to emerge as an MVP candidate like some did but I definately thought he'd continue to improve. Not only was he hurt, he was also terrible when he was in the line up.
6. Derrick Turnbow (Final Ranking: 428th, 56.1 IP, 4 W, 24 SV, 69 K, 4 HLD, 6.87 ERA, 1.69 WHIP)
Maybe I should just stop this entry because this is getting embarrasing. I should have listened to those who thought Turnbow's excellent 2005 season was a fluke and boy were they right. This pick pretty much killed me in the saves category all year as I never found a decent closer.
7. Brian Giles (Final Ranking: 216th, 87 R, 159 H, 14 HR, 83 RBI, 9 SB, .374 OBP)
Because of the park he plays in Giles isn't a very attractive player in fantasy baseball but he had an outstanding 2005 season so I was happy when he fell to me but his OBP dropped 49 points in 2006. I actually have drafted him again this year hoping he'll have a bounce back year but I'm probably going to be wrong on that as he just turned 36 last month.
8. Placido Polanco (Final Ranking: 430th, 58 R, 136 H, 4 HR, 52 RBI, 1 SB, .329 OBP)
This seemed like a good pick at that time as Polanco had emerged as one of the better second basemen in baseball the previous couple of years but he had a terrible year offensively in 2006.
9. Michael Barrett (Final Ranking: 317th, 54 R, 115 H, 16 HR, 53 RBI, 0 SB, .368 OBP)
Barrett was having a good year for a catcher, and became one of my favorite players for punching A.J. Pierzynski, but he missed the last month of the season due to injury.
10. Nick Johnson (Final Ranking: 120th, 100 R,145 H, 23 HR, 77 RBI, 10 SB, .428 OBP)
The best pick I made in the draft and even it came back to haunt me. He of course suffered an ugly broken leg injury with about a week left in the season and is likely going to start this year on the DL but because my team was so terrible I decided to keep him in spite of this.
11. Brad Radke (162.1 IP, 12 W, 0 SV, 83 K, 0 HLD, 4.32 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)
Because he retired I don't know what his final Yahoo ranking was but it couldn't have been very good as Brad went out at the right time.
12. Scott Linebrink (Final Ranking: 235th, 75.2 IP, 7 W, 2 SV, 68 K, 36 HLD, 3.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
One thing I really dislike about this league is the inclusion of the completlely irrelevent Hold statistic being included. I let Linebrink go at some point because I think I was desperate to fill the other numerous holes on my team due to injuries that I abandoned Holds.
13. Carlos Silva (Final Ranking: 375th, 180.1 IP, 11 W, 0 SV, 70 K, 2 HLD, 5.94 ERA, 1.54 WHIP)
Another terrible pick. Silva had made a living off never striking out anybody but never walked anybody either but the never striking out part bit him in the ass finally last year and I didn't wait too long before releasing him.
14. Dan Johnosn (Final Ranking: 693rd, 30 R, 67 H, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 0 SB, .323 OBP)
Yet again not following Rule #1 but even I wasn't as high on Johnson as some A's fans but I figured this was a low risk pick here and boy was I wrong.
15. Brian Anderson (Final Ranking: 664th, 46 R, 82 H, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 4 SB, .290 OBP)
Gambled on a rookie here and once again was wrong as Anderson was not ready yet to hit MLB pitching.
16. Dave Roberts (Final Ranking: 146th, 80 R, 146 H, 2 HR, 44 RBI, 49 SB, .360 OBP)
Hey a decent pick, imagine that.
17. Luis A. Gonzalez (7 R, 36 H, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 1 SB, .269 OBP)
Picked purely because he was eligible at a ton of positions and had been halfway decent offensivley but was just awful in 2006. Don't know his ranking because he's now in Japan.
18. Jason LaRue (Final Ranking: 762nd, 22 R, 37 H, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 1 SB, .317 OBP)
Seemed like a decent choice as my back up catcher but not even close.
19. Jeff Franics (Final Ranking: 285th, 199 IP, 13 W, 0 SV, 117 K, 0 HLD, 4.16 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
Pretty good pick here as him and Myers were the only pitchers I could rely on all year.
20. Todd Coffey (Final Ranking: 285th, 78 IP, 6 W, 8 SV, 60 K, 15 HLD, 3.58 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)
I was hoping Coffey would emerge as the Reds primary closer but never happened.
Because I had so little to work with going into this year I already hate the look of my team this year so far. I'm counting on Ryan Zimmerman emerging as a superstar this year but given how things went last year I'll assume he'll do a good Bobby Crosby 2006 impression.
Hey if the '87 Mariners can beat the '89 A's, why not the '86 Indians beating the '84 Tigers? Well it happened thus meaning the '88 Dodgers were the only #1 seed to get out of the first round and they had to go to seven games to do so. The top half of the bracket in this region/division has been blown wide open as every lower seed won while on the bottom half three of the four higher seeds advanced. We had our second sweep as the '80 Yankees dusted off the '80 Orioles including an 18-0 thrashing to close the series.
(16) 1986 Cleveland Indians def. (1) 1984 Detroit Tigers 4-2
Game 1: Indians 4, Tigers 1
Game 2: Tigers 9, Indians 3
Game 3: Indians 2, Tigers 1
Game 4: Tigers 7, Indians 2
Game 5: Indians 11, Tigers 7
Game 6: Indians 4, Tigers 1
Joe Carter: 12-25, 4 2B, 7 RBI
(9) 1988 Boston Red Sox def. (8) 1987 Detroit Tigers 4-1
Game 1: Red Sox 4, Tigers 2
Game 2: Red Sox 10, Tigers 2
Game 3: Red Sox 4, Tigers 0
Game 4: Tigers 10, Red Sox 2
Game 5: Red Sox 10, Tigers 5
Mike Greenwell: 7-19, 3 HR, 6 RBI
(13) 1987 Toronto Blue Jays def. (4) 1982 Milwaukee Brewers 4-3
Game 1: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Game 2: Brewers 1, Blue Jays 0
Game 3: Blue Jays 8, Brewers 5
Game 4: Brewers 4, Blue Jays 1
Game 5: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Game 6: Brewers 11, Blue Jays 3
Game 7: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Tom Henke: 3 Saves
(12) 1985 New York Yankees def. (5) 1981 New York Yankees 4-1
Game 1: '85 Yankees 14, '81 Yankees 12
Game 2: '81 Yankees 8, '85 Yankees 2
Game 3: '85 Yankees 10, '81 Yankees 4
Game 4: '85 Yankees 5, '81 Yankees 4 14 innings
Game 5: '85 Yankees 4, '81 Yankees 0
Don Mattingly: 9-26, 3 HR, 13 RBI
(6) 1980 New York Yankees def. (6) 1980 Baltimore Orioles 4-0
Game 1: Yankees 3, Orioles 2
Game 2: Yankees 5, Orioles 4
Game 3: Yankees 9, Orioles 5
Game 4: Yankees 18, Orioles 0
Graig Nettles: 6-16, 3 HR, 7 RBI
(3) 1986 Boston Red Sox def. (14) 1982 Baltimore Orioles 4-1
Game 1: Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Game 2: Orioles 4, Red Sox 0
Game 3: Red Sox 6, Orioles 1
Game 4: Red Sox 6, Orioles 3
Game 5: Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Jim Rice: 9-19, 3 2B
(10) 1989 Toronto Blue Jays def. (7) 1985 Toronto Blue Jays 4-2
Game 1: '89 Blue Jays 6, '85 Blue Jays 5 10 innings
Game 2: '89 Blue Jays 5, '85 Blue Jays 4
Game 3: '85 Blue Jays 5, '89 Blue Jays 4 12 innings
Game 4: '89 Blue Jays 4, '85 Blue Jays 3
Game 5: '85 Blue Jays 6, '89 Blue Jays 4
Game 6: '89 Blue Jays 3, '85 Blue Jays 2 10 innings
Nelson Liriano: 8-21, 4 2B
(2) 1983 Baltimore Orioles def. (15) 1981 Milwaukee Brewers 4-3
Game 1: Orioles 4, Brewers 1
Game 2: Brewers 3, Orioles 2 14 innings
Game 3: Orioles 3, Brewers 0
Game 4: Brewers 5, Orioles 1
Game 5: Orioles 5, Brewers 4
Game 6: Brewers 4, Orioles 1
Game 7: Orioles 2, Brewers 1 11 innings
Storm Davis: 2 CG, 1 SHO, 14 K, 0 BB
A.L. East Quarterfinals Match-ups
(16) '86 Indians vs. (9) '88 Red Sox
(13) '87 Blue Jays vs. (12) '85 Yankees
(6) '80 Yankees vs. (3) '86 Red Sox
(10) '89 Blue Jays vs. (2) '83 Orioles
Up Next: N.L. East Quarterfinals
