Sim 8D Complete

Standings Charts - Week 8

Remember, top 4 teams in each division make the playoffs.

Great Feats - 8D

7/31 - Lady Baldwin (Black Diamonds) strikes out 12
8/2 - George Stone (Gargle Blasters) drives in 6
8/2 - Vladimir Guerrero (Steamers) drives in 6 in the same game
8/2 - Gargle Blasters score 19, in you guessed it, the same game

Over and Underperformers of the Year

Have I mentioned I love ATB Value?

Over the past few weeks I have been reconstructing past ATB seasons in order to determine ATB Value for each player. Last week I released the data for ATB VI and while the other seasons are not quite ready for release, I couldn't help but take a break for some analysis.

I wanted to try and gauge those players performing above and below expectations. First task was to determine "expectation"and of course, I turned to ATB Value. I created baseline averages for those players with at least 4 years of ATB experience, and then compared their current scores against their baseline averages. Below are the top 3 over and under performers of the year.

OVER PERFORMERS


1938 Ernie Lombardi - Catcher, John McDonald Fanclub
With a Vg arm strength, Lombardi is and ATB regular year in and year out. This year he is batting a very nice .305 / .338 / .390, a steal for the 25th round. Last season? He had an OBP of .211 and slugged just .234. the season before those numbers were .254 and .268, and the season before that .255 and .299. Lombardi's baseline ATB Value is .223 and is currently 29% better, coming in at .287.

1932 Jimmie Foxx - First Base, Downsouth Brews.
Foxx is having a stellar year, batting .291 / .391 / .592 with 35 HR and 85 RBI. His career average? .255 / .337 / .482 with 41 HR's. This is a solid average for any player, but no where near the MVP like numbers he is putting up this year. His previous best season was in ATB X where he put up similar numbers in an extreme batters park with a 108 BPF. this year, he is doing the same in moderate pitchers park.

1954 Duke Snider - Center Field, DC Chips
An all time great among ATB center fielders, Snider has averaged a .270 ATB Value over the previous six seasons. This year he scores .339 thanks to a .330 / .391 / .530 batting line. His previous high was ATB X when he batted .279 / .326 / .498 with a .314 ATB Value.


UNDER PERFORMERS


1938 Josh Gibson - Catcher, San Diego Puff
Those poor Puff. Gibson is either the first or second best catcher in the game, depending upon owner preference for power or a combination of batting average and on base percentage. Over his ATB career Gibson has batted .279 / .326 / .501 with almost 30 home runs per year. This season though? The second round pick is batting just .243 / .305 / .388.

1969 Willie McCovey - First Base, Eugene Psycho Llamas
Here are McCovey's last six OPS scores, in chronological order: .916, .988, .884, .848, .891. This year it is just .733. Not what Eugene was hoping for from their 2nd round pick.

1925 Oscar Charleston - Center Field, Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars
Charleston is an Ex center fielder and that thankfully for RKA, this is not subject to much variation in the DMB game engine. As a result, a lot of his value is constant. This season he has recorded a .741 OPS with 10 home runs for an ATB Value of .240. Over his previous three seasons he has averaged an ATB Value of .305 with an OPS of .806.

Good, Great, and Ugly - Week 8

Great Feats - 8C

7/29 - Albert Belle (JMF) hits 3 doubles
7/30 - Jack Chesbro (P10) records an 85 GS
7/30 - Walter Jonson (RBB) pitches against Chesbro above, records an 89 game score, and loses! Has to be the pitchers duel of the year.

Finally, this is the most amazing string of hitting I have seen in 12 ATB years. After a 25 game hitting streak earlier in the year, Joe D took a few days off and now has ANOTHER 21 game hitting streak.

In his latest streak, DiMaggio is batting .429 / .464 /.681 with 4 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 13 R, and 21 RBI. On the season he has played in 104 games and reach base in 93 of them.

Sim 8C Complete

ATB Value Updated

Linked to the right. Top by Position below:

Catcher
0.351 - King Kelly, LDS
0.337 - Roy Campanella, DB
0.317 - Javy Lopez, P10
0.301 - Mike Piazza, SOP
0.297 - Joe Mauer*, DWO

First Base
0.345 - Jimmie Foxx, DB
0.343 - Lou Gehrig*, PR
0.318 - Dan Brouthers*, WPM
0.310 - Norm Cash*, JMF
0.299 - Carlos Delgado*, CS

Second Base
0.332 - Nap Lajoie, PGB
0.325 - Eddie Collins*, HH
0.307 - Rogers Hornsby, BT
0.306 - Jackie Robinson, DCC
0.299 - Derrek Lee, SDP

Third Base
0.308 - Howard Johnson#, WPM
0.301 - Alex Rodriguez, PGB
0.301 - Wade Boggs*, CS
0.296 - Ezra Sutton, LDS
0.292 - George Brett*, DWO

Shortstop
0.330 - Arky Vaughan*, DCC
0.311 - Lou Boudreau, JMF
0.306 - Hughie Jennings, RKA
0.295 - Honus Wagner, OFB
0.285 - Pop Lloyd*, LDS

Left Field
0.385 - Tip O'Neill, DCC
0.341 - Ted Williams*, LDS
0.338 - Barry Bonds*, SBD
0.316 - Ed Delahanty, HH
0.309 - Jesse Burkett*, PGB

Center Field
0.339 - Duke Snider*, DCC
0.329 - Joe DiMaggio, EPL
0.324 - Mickey Mantle#, HH
0.302 - Pete Browning, LDS
0.301 - Bobby Murcer*, PR

Right Field
0.329 - Mike Tiernan*, BMS
0.327 - Larry Walker*, P10
0.292 - Gary Sheffield, JMF
0.288 - Joe Jackson*, BT
0.278 - Babe Herman*, RBB

Overall ATB Value Runs
102.8 - Tip O'Neill, DCC
96.4 - Ted Williams*, LDS
92.9 - Lou Gehrig*, PR
92.2 - Arky Vaughan*, DCC
90.9 - Eddie Collins*, HH
90.5 - Jimmie Foxx, DB
86.6 - King Kelly, LDS
84.9 - Dan Brouthers*, WPM
84.9 - Barry Bonds*, SBD
84.1 - Joe DiMaggio, EPL

Power Alley Week 8

• The DC Chips move up two positions to second overall and now own the best Run Differential in the game.
• The Oathbinders fall out of the Top 5

And as a bonus, here are the luckiest and unluckiest teams as determiend by the difference between the Pythagorean Record and Actual Record:

Unluckiest
-8 Wins: John McDonald Fanclub
-4 Wins: Helena Handbasket
-4 Wins: Sons of Pitches
-3 Wins: Potomac Rage
-3 Wins: Eugene Psycho Llamas
-3 Wins: Dumai's Wells Oathbinders

Luckiest
+7: Rochester Beau Brummels
+4: Willets Point "Mechanics"
+4: Planet 10
+3: Cleveland Steamers

Sim 8B Complete

RSAA Leaders

Full file linked to the right

Closers
16.1 - Jeff Zimmerman, LDS
10.3 - Cla Meredith, SBD
9.3 - Dennis Eckersley, SDP
8.0 - Dan Quisenberry, JMF
6.5 - Eric Gagne, SOP
5.9 - Rollie Fingers, CS
5.5 - B.J. Ryan*, RBB
3.7 - Tug McGraw*, WPM
3.6 - Gabe White*, PGB
3.2 - Buddy Groom*, BMS

Starters
42.1 - Mort Cooper, JMF
34.5 - Pedro Martinez, JMF
32.7 - Bill Bernhard, LDS
30.6 - Tex Hughson, JMF
29.6 - Babe Adams, DWO
26.6 - George Bradley, JMF
23.9 - Garland Braxton*, DCC
23.2 - Scott Stratton, SDP
20.5 - Chris Carpenter, SBD
20.4 - Ben Sanders, DCC

Relievers
26.5 - Frank Killen*, DCC
17.6 - Joe Neale, DCC
13.7 - Jack Quinn, BMS
12.6 - Huston Street, LDS
10.4 - Tim Burke, HH
9.6 - Chris Hammond*, HH
9.5 - Willard Schmidt, HH
8.2 - Bruce Sutter, DWO
7.2 - Jim Poole*, LDS
7.0 - Octavio Dotel, EPL

Great Feats - 7E + 8A

7/20 - Lady Baldwin (SBD) strikes out 12. This is the 6th time on the year has has done so, twice as many times as any other pitcher.
7/20 - Javy Lopez (P10) drives in 7
7/20 - Mort Cooper (JMF) records an 88 Game Score
7/23 - Greg Maddux (WPM) records an 89 game score, pitching 11 innings of 1 run ball

Sim 8A Complete

Sim 8B to be run on normal schedule

No Sims Tonight (Sunday)

Sorry! Will pick up tomorrow.

All Time Seasonal Data Available Online

Here. Also accessible from the All Time Leaders section of the ATB Website.

It's a zip file that contains four excel files, the individual seasonal stat lines plus career summaries for batters and pitchers.

More Week 8 Transactions

The DC Chips drop Jack Taylor (5 IP, 5.40) and pick up Pascual Perez (6.24 ERA with Willets Point).

Week 8 Transactions

The Cleveland Steamers drop Mike Marshal (72.2 IP, 5.45 ERA) and Gabby Hartnett (85 G, .598 OPS) and pick up Bert Blyleven (1973) and Todd Hundley (1997).

The Dumai's Wells Oathbinders drop Manny Corpas (42.1 IP, 8.29 ERA) and sign Troy Percival (27 IP, 6.33 with RKA)

Historical ATB Value - ATB VI

I decided to go back in time and recreate our new ATB Value Score for each season we have data for. ATB VI is as far back as our annals go, which is probably a good thing or I would be spending the summer buried in VLOOKUPs and nutty fantasy baseball calculations.

Season 6 was a 14 team league in which the league average batting line was .258 / .325 / .399. Ted Williams led the league in batting with a .354 Average while Barry Bonds was easily the MVP, batting .331 / .472 / .751 with 65 HR, 158 R, and 155 RBI. All but the batting average led the league. Accordingly, he returns a historically significant ATB Value of .404. Remember, the scale for ATB Value is just like that of batting average - a .400 score is off the charts good.

The scale for average raw GPA per position was as follows:

.264 - 1B
.259 - LF
.259 - RF
.250 - CF
.238 - 3B
.234 - SS
.230 - 2B
.220 - C

Catcher
In the pre-King Kelly days, catchers were relatively weak offensive players, even when considering positional scarcity. 1951 Roy Campanella batted .300 ATBV, narrowly besting 1937 Rudy York and his .296 ATBV. Campy slugged .467 with 24 home runs and batted .280 with a .327 OBP. He played in 2002 Fenway Park which inflated offense by 3%. Between his Vg throwing arm and positional scarcity score, his raw GPA increased from .264

First Base
In a poor year for first basemen, Lou Gehrig batted .318 ATBV, running away the award. He batted .280 / .370 / .545 with 36 HR and 36 doubles. The second best first basemen, Willie McCovey, was not close to contending, batting .295. Gehrig's raw GPA was .303; the lefty received a moderate bonus for having played in Jacobs Field 2002 due to its park factor of 97.

Second Base
The race for best second basemen of the year was a toss up heading into the last week of the season. 1901 Nap Lajoie finished the season with an ATB Value of .320, just a single point ahead of 1924 Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby's raw GPA was slightly better, and his park factor was slightly more forgiving to batters, but Lajoie is the better defender giving him the edge. A third shortstop should be mentioned too - Eddie Collins, circa 1909, hit .307 in large part due to his Ex defense.

Lajoie batted .328 / .366 / .501 with 54 doubles.

Third Base
Despite playing in 2004 Olympic Stadium which increased offense by 5%, 1953 Eddie Mathews was third basemen of the year with a .316 ATB Value. His defense was Vg. 1980 George Brett outpaced Mathews in terms of ATB Runs, but only due to his 100 plate appearance edge. Mathews batted .279 / .368 / .526 with 30 HR and 14 triples.

Shortstop
1908 Honus Wagner and 1935 Arky Vaughan battled for supremacy throughout the ATB VI season. Vaughan was the better raw hitter in terms of GPA of, winning handily with .305 to Wagner's .283. However, and this is the key aspect of ATB Value, Vaughan played in 1944 Forbes which carries a BPF of 104 and Wagner's home was the 1901 West Side Grounds. The Chicago ballpark suppressed offense by 4% and coupled with Wagner's Ex defense, pushed him over the top for the highest ATB Value at the shortstop position. Wagner's final line: .341 ATB Value, .322 / .366 / .475, 36 2B, 17 3B, 10 HR.

Left Field
Bonds completed one of the best seasons in ATB History this season and even the Great Babe Ruth couldn't compete directly with him. To put this into perspective, Ruth batted .292 / .449 / .653 with 47 HR and 14 3B, and didn't approach Bonds overall ATB Value score. 2004 Bonds came in at .404 versus Ruth's .383. At .400, Bonds' Raw GPA was also incredible, and he is the only player in ATB history to reach the .400 barrier. His line one more time: .331 / .472 / .751, 65 HR, 158 R, 155 RBI.

Center Field
The oft-underrated 1971 Bobby Murcer won the ATB Value award at center field easily. His raw GPA was .294 and after bonus's for defense, ballpark, and position his final mark was .321, a full 24 points better than 1916 Tris Speaker. One item to note, 1956 Mickey Mantle had a better Raw GPA, but Mantle played in a stadium with a 111 BPF, limiting his accomplishments. Murcer batted .331 / .398 / .460.

Right Field
In a weak year with Ruth playing in left field, 1923 Harry Heilmann came in first with a relatively low .301 ATB Value. He batted .324 / .378 / .446 in a pitchers park, narrowly beating 1919 Gavy Cravath, who came in at .297.

Finally, below are lists of the Top 10 overall and Top 5 players by position. Pay particular attention the the left fielders, 5 of them scored .340 or better.

Here is a link to the full ATB Value Report for the ATB VI season.

Overall
0.404 - Barry Bonds*, DLM
0.383 - Babe Ruth*, SY
0.352 - Ted Williams*, PBD
0.342 - Albert Pujols, TC
0.341 - Honus Wagner, MH
0.333 - Arky Vaughan*, NDN
0.327 - Lou Gehrig*, TC
0.321 - Bobby Murcer*, RM
0.320 - Nap Lajoie, CC
0.319 - Rogers Hornsby, FLP

Catcher
0.300 - Roy Campanella, FLP
0.296 - Bill Dickey*, SY
0.287 - Mickey Cochrane*, MH
0.282 - Carlton Fisk, CC
0.272 - Javy Lopez, PBD

First Base
0.327 - Lou Gehrig*, TC
0.295 - Willie McCovey*, DLM
0.281 - Jason Giambi*, DLM
0.279 - Todd Helton*, SY
0.278 - Jim Thome*, CC

Second Base
0.320 - Nap Lajoie, CC
0.319 - Rogers Hornsby, FLP 0.
0.307 - Eddie Collins*, DLM
0.282 - Joe Morgan*, PC
0.275 - Joe Gordon, TK

Third Base
0.316 - Eddie Mathews*, MFA
0.302 - George Brett*, DLM
0.289 - Frank Baker*, RM
0.282 - Wade Boggs*, FLP
0.271 - Chipper Jones#, SY

Shortstop
0.341 - Honus Wagner, MH
0.333 - Arky Vaughan*, NDN
0.286 - Joe Cronin, RM
0.283 - Lou Boudreau, HO
0.283 - Ernie Banks, SY

Left Field
0.404 - Barry Bonds*, DLM
0.383 - Babe Ruth*, SY
0.352 - Ted Williams*, PBD
0.342 - Albert Pujols, TC
0.291 - George Stone*, MH

Center Field
0.321 - Bobby Murcer*, RM
0.297 - Tris Speaker*, MH
0.289 - Joe DiMaggio, MFA
0.286 - Mickey Mantle#, 8S
0.285 - Mike Donlin*, PC

Right Field
0.301 - Harry Heilmann, HO
0.297 - Gavvy Cravath, FLP
0.296 - Stan Musial*, NDN
0.295 - Frank Robinson, PC
0.281 - Mel Ott*, TC

Batter and Pitcher of the Week

Bill Bernhard of the Lusitania Death Speakers is named Week 7 Pitcher of the Week. In 3 starts, the righty gave up just 13 hits and two walks in 26 innings. His line: 2-1, 0.34 ERA, 26.2 IP, 13 H, 2 BB, 11 K, 0.75 RCERA.






For the second consecutive week, a first in ATB history as far as I can recall, Dan Brouthers of the Willets Point "Mechanics" is named player of the week. Brouthers didn't have the counting stats we might be accostomed too, but it is difficult not to give the award to someone who batted .500 / .582 / .704. He scored 15 times and and had 9 extra base hits.

Standings Since June 15

Standings Summary - Week 7

Sorry, no writeup this week, but my goodness, what happened to the Brews.

Sim 7E Complete

Great Feats - 7C & 7D

7/14 - Howard Johnson (WPM) drives in 6
7/15 - Lady Baldwin (SBD) records a 93 game Score
7/17 - Howard Johnson (WPM) goes 5-8
7/17 - Dutch Leonard (RBB) strikes out 12
7/18 - Cannonball Titcomb (P10) strikes out 12
7/15 - Edgar Martinez's (LDS) 25 game hit streak comes to an end

Standings Charts - Week 7

Sim 7D Complete

Pitcher Injuries

It has been a difficult 30 days for several key pitchers.

• "Mechanics" lose #3 Cy Blanton for 2 1/2 weeks
• Oathbinders lose #2 Harry Brecheen for 3 weeks
• Oathbinders lose #3 Rube Waddell for 2 weeks
• Chips lose #1 Garland Braxton for 2 weeks
• Chips lose #3 Pete Conway 2 weeks
• Fanclub loses #4 George Bradley for almost 2 weeks
• Fanclub loses #1 Pedro Martinez for 3 weeks

Awful.

Introducing ATB Value

Long have a I wished for a single, all encompassing ATB stat to define player value. One that combines all aspects of the game for a batter - Fielding, Raw Offense, and Park Factor. I think I have finally accomplished this feat, and in a way that I can provide fairly regular updates.

I came across a stat I forgot about today, Gross Production Average, published by the Hard Ball Times. GPA is an improved version of OPS that weights On Base Percentage more heavily than slugging percentage, plus, puts the stat in a scale similar to batting average.

The underlying metric prior to any conversion is very similar to the clunky AOPSAP that I have been using. AOPSAP uses (OBP*1.4+SLG) whereas GPA uses (OBP*1.8 + SLG). It also takes it a step further and converts to runs and this is where AOPSAP got the clunkiness. Instead of just taking the raw rate stat and multiplying it by total plate appearances (cringe!) GPA uses linear weights to encompass playing time. The formula: PA*1.356*(GPA^1.77). I don't pretend to understand why, but it works wonderfully.

Now we have the raw ATB Value calculation. Currently, here are the leaders among qualified batters:

.344 - Lou Gehrig (PR)
.342 - Tip O'Neill (DCC)
.319 - Barry Bonds (SBD)
.317 - Joe DiMaggio (EPL)
.315 - Jimmy Foxx (DB)

Taking into times at the plate, the leaders are:

83.3 - Lou Gehrig (PR)
73.3 - Tip O'Neill (DCC)
72.1 - Ted Williams (LDS)
71.6 - Bobby Murcer (PR)
70.5 - Joe DiMaggio (EPL)

The raw GPA is the starting point for ATB Value. From there, we need to account for defense, park factor, and positional scarcity.

Defense
Through the miracle of VLOOKUP I can readily scan hundreds of players, interpret their defensive range, assign a value, and include it in a metric. We've seen how important defense is to the DMB Engine, and I assigned defensive values based upon ranges accordingly. From that linked report, we found that infielder range was the most critical, outfield range was almost as critical, and pitcher and catcher ranges were basically irrelevant. As such, I assigned the following "rating values" to each possible range of defense by position.


These values are simply multiplied by the GPA score. A great infielder improves the score by 4%, a great outfielder by 3%. Conversely, the worst infielder reduces the score by 4% and the worst outfielder by 3%. These percentages came from the defensive study referenced above.

The omissions on the defensive side include outfield arms and fielding percentage. Compared with range, this are minimal. Perhaps another day or another season.

Park Factor
This was the hurdle I could not overcome. As you know, Diamond Mind uses individual park factors for Lefties and Righties, for Singles, Doubles, Triples, and Home Runs. To fairly incorporate this into a metric was impossible to do so on a repeatable basis. For each player, the calculation would have needed to include game by game data to see how many games a Lefty or Righty played in each park with each park factor. Possible, but insurmountable for a fun simulation league.

Instead of worrying about the individual park factors, I tried to create my own "High Level Park Factor" based upon the individual split park factors. But, then again - how much weight do HR's get versus Singles? And how much less does a lefty HR factor get weighted vs a Righty HR factor. I could not figure these problems out mathematically.

Then the light bulb went off. Sean Foreman has already done this with the Baseball Reference Ball Park Factors. And I have even been publishing them for years in the draft day batting files. Doh!

So, now ATB Value also uses Baseball-Reference.com's ball park factors.

Positional Scarcity
Any all in one metric worth its salt adjusts for positional scarcity. A great hitting second basemen is more valuable that a right fielder that hits at the same level. This is because there are very few great hitting infielders and plenty of great hitting outfielders. Taking a page out of the AOPSAP book, I adjust GPA in the same manner - by comparing each players GPA against the average GPA of their main position.

Tying it All Together
Simply stated, ATB Value is Gross Production Average adjust for park factor, defensive range, and positional scarcity. The formula:

ATB Value = (OBP*1.8+SLG)/4) * BPF * Def Rating * (Best Pos GPA / Avg Pos GPA)

The Results

ATB Value
0.364 - Tip O'Neill, DCC
0.340 - Lou Gehrig*, PR
0.337 - Jimmie Foxx, DB
0.335 - Duke Snider*, DCC
0.332 - King Kelly, LDS
0.332 - Larry Walker*, P10
0.325 - Nap Lajoie, PGB
0.322 - Ted Williams*, LDS
0.319 - Arky Vaughan*, DCC
0.319 - Eddie Collins*, HH

ATB Value Runs
81.9 - Tip O'Neill, DCC
81.8 - Lou Gehrig*, PR
77.9 - Ted Williams*, LDS
77.8 - Eddie Collins*, HH
77.7 - Arky Vaughan*, DCC
76.7 - Larry Walker*, P10
76.5 - Jimmie Foxx, DB
70.4 - Bobby Murcer*, PR
70.1 - Mickey Mantle#, HH
69.9 - King Kelly, LDS

The entire list of players can be accessed here and linked on the top right. Moving forward, ATB Value will replace AOPSAP permanently.

In the linked file, the Overall Tab players are sorted first by ATB Value among qualified batters, and the lower section is sorted by ATB Value Runs for non qualified batters. There are also separate tabs for each position.

AOPSAP Leaders

Full List Linked to the Right

Catcher
73.0 - King Kelly, LDS
63.9 - Mike Piazza, SOP
54.9 - Roy Campanella, DB
43.8 - Joe Mauer*, DWO
43.8 - Rudy York, DWO

First Base
131.7 - Lou Gehrig*, PR
82.5 - Jimmie Foxx, DB
51.2 - George Sisler*, SDP
48.4 - Dan Brouthers*, WPM
45.1 - Norm Cash*, JMF

Second Base
78.4 - Rogers Hornsby, BT
75.3 - Nap Lajoie, PGB
73.2 - Derrek Lee, SDP
69.7 - Eddie Collins*, HH
62.6 - Joe Morgan*, OFB

Third Base
69.0 - Adrian Beltre, SOP
67.5 - John McGraw*, RBB
67.4 - Alex Rodriguez, PGB
55.9 - George Brett*, DWO
47.1 - Frank Baker*, SDP

Shortstop
58.4 - Arky Vaughan*, DCC
52.5 - Honus Wagner, OFB
50.4 - Hughie Jennings, RKA
26.6 - Lou Boudreau, JMF
19.7 - Robin Yount, SBD

Left Field
116.9 - Tip O'Neill, DCC
92.4 - Barry Bonds*, SBD
75.2 - Ted Williams*, LDS
54.9 - Ed Delahanty, HH
41.0 - Babe Ruth*, RKA

Centerfield
89.7 - Joe DiMaggio, EPL
79.5 - Bobby Murcer*, PR
75.6 - Mickey Mantle#, HH
65.7 - Duke Snider*, DCC
45.6 - Larry Doby*, BT

Right Field
53.0 - Larry Walker*, P10
51.5 - Roger Maris*, RKA
47.1 - Mike Tiernan*, BMS
46.1 - Stan Musial*, DWO
44.8 - Babe Herman*, RBB

RSAA Leaders

Full file linked to the right...

Starting Pitcher
34.9 - Mort Cooper, JMF
34.7 - Pedro Martinez, JMF
29.5 - Babe Adams, DWO
26.7 - Scott Stratton, SDP
26.6 - George Bradley, JMF
26.2 - Bill Bernhard, LDS
25.0 - Tex Hughson, JMF
24.0 - Garland Braxton*, DCC
21.0 - Johan Santana*, CS
20.6 - Chris Carpenter, SBD

Closer
14.0 - Jeff Zimmerman, LDS
12.3 - Cla Meredith, SBD
9.4 - Dennis Eckersley, SDP
7.7 - Dan Quisenberry, JMF
6.6 - Eric Gagne, SOP
6.2 - Rollie Fingers, CS
5.1 - John Smoltz, RKA
4.2 - B.J. Ryan*, RBB
3.9 - Gabe White*, PGB
3.3 - Tug McGraw*, WPM

Reliever
25.8 - Frank Killen*, DCC
14.3 - Joe Neale, DCC
12.3 - Jack Quinn, BMS
11.2 - Tim Burke, HH
10.7 - Huston Street, LDS
9.6 - Chris Hammond*, HH
8.4 - Willard Schmidt, HH
8.0 - Jonathan Papelbon, BT
7.7 - Bruce Sutter, DWO
6.2 - Steve Mingori*, DWO

Good, Great, and Ugly - Week 7

Sim 7C Complete

Reliever and Starting Pitcher ERA's by Team

Starters
2.59 Fanclub
3.47 Oathbinders
3.62 Black Diamonds
3.70 Puff
3.87 Chips
4.10 Death Speakers
4.13 Psycho Llamas
4.19 Steamers
4.32 Terrier
4.32 Handbasket
4.35 Brews
4.52 Speical Sauce
4.68 10
4.70 "Mechanics"
4.95 Fish Biscuits
4.95 Rage
5.08 Beau Brummels
5.27 of Pitches
5.60 Gargle Blasters
5.64 Traveling All-S

Relievers
2.59 Black Diamonds
2.69 Death Speakers
2.78 Chips
3.20 Handbasket
3.29 Puff
3.30 Speical Sauce
3.52 Fanclub
3.76 Oathbinders
3.93 Rage
4.00 Gargle Blasters
4.18 Psycho Llamas
4.21 Steamers
4.23 10
4.30 Terrier
4.33 Fish Biscuits
4.39 Brews
4.45 Beau Brummels
4.79 of Pitches
5.00 "Mechanics"
5.20 Traveling All-S

Power Alley Great 8 - Week 7

The Super 7 becomes the Great 8. Only makes sense since 8 teams make the playoffs.

• Lusitania overtakes John McDonald for the to spot. It has been a string of success for the Death Speakers since Week 2.
• Big Mac Special Sauce drops out and Bostons Terrier takes their place. Terrier has steadily improved as well, making up 8 slots in 5 weeks.
  

Great Feats - 7B+

7/1 - Eddie Mathews (DC) drives in 7 on a HR and 2B
7/1 - Hugh Daily (RKA) strikes out 14
7/2 - Monty Stratton (SDP) strikes out 12
7/5 - Duke Snider (DC) drives in 6 on a HR and 2B
7/5 - Lady Baldwin (SDB) strikes out 12 in 6 2/3 innings.
7/10 - Vida Blue (SOP) records an 88 Game Score
7/10 - Three Finger Brown (EPL) records and 86 Game Score

Power Alley - Week 7

• The Top 5 teams remain intact, however, we have a new #1 - the Lusitania Death Speakers. Since June 1, the Death Speakers are 24-10, tied for the best record in the game.
• The Cleveland Steamers have quietly been a very good team over the past 2 months. They've gone 22-13 since June 1 themselves, and have moved into 6th place in the Mossback Division.
• On the other hand, the Sons of Pitches have been dreadful. During this same timeframe they played .329 ball (28-57) and are now the worst ranked team in the game.
  

Sim 7B Complete

I am a dope. Apparently, there were 2 days worth of games that were to be played on Sunday nights Sim 7A. I have included them in Sim 7B.

Plus, Sim 7B was almost meant to have an extra days worth of games meaning some teams had 6 games run today. Sorry for confusion. We are caught up to schedule now.

A Stroll Through the List of MVP Candidates

With the All Star Game now just a memory we turn our collective thoughts to the second half of the season, the playoff race, and to a lesser but nonetheless interesting degree, the MVP Race.

Historically, the ATB MVP award has unofficially been limited to batters. This year is no different, but unlike the Cy Young award which is straightforward and presented to the best pitcher on the season, the MVP is given to the batter who is most "valuable" to his team.

Just like in MLB, the term "valuable" is not clearly defined. Owners vote for the MVP in our league, but as the sole voice of ATB, the commissioner does have the ability, even if minor, to steer owners in one direction vs another. Today, I will attempt to do just that!

Below are the current MVP candidates in each league. The criterion for inclusion in the following list is four fold:

1 - Great Rate stats
2 - Great counting stats
3 - Few other great offensive players on the same team
4 - Team in contention

The fourth criteria is the least important, but nonetheless a factor in my mind. While the MVP can and should be awarded to players on a bad team, players on a good team stand a better chance at winning the award.

Greenhorn Candidates
Barry Bonds (Black Diamonds)
.239 / .364 / .574, .938 OPS, 29 HR, 54 R, 71 RBI,

At this point in the season, Bonds might to be considered the front runner for the award in the Greenhorn division. He leads the league in home runs with 29 and is second in Slugging and RBI. The next best MVP candidate on the Black Diamonds is either Jim Gentile (16 HR, .804 OPS) or Fred Lynn (14 HR, .823 OPS). He has one critical flaw however, the left fielder is currently batting .239 and most owners will have a difficult time awarding the MVP to batters struggling to reach .250.

Tip O'Neill/Duke Snider (DC Chips)
.391 / .422 / .579, 1.001 OPS, 5 HR, 47 R, 43 RBI

The next two candidates hail from the DC Chips, which underscores their predicament immediately. Tip is the best batter in the league at this point coming in first in AVG, SLG, and OPS. On the downside, he has relatively poor (for MVP standards) counting stats with 47 Runs (22nd in league) and 43 RBI (25th). Perhaps worse still, O'Neill has serious competition for the award from his teammate, Duke Snider. A great defending center fielder, Snider is batting .322 / .382 / .533 with 13 HR, and 55 RBI.

Mickey Mantle (Helena Handbasket)
.315 / .368 .548, .917 OPS, 22 HR, 62 R, 78 RBI

Mantle combines the best aspects of Bonds and O'Neill into one nice bundle. Though rarely leading the league in any one category, Mantle is very good in almost all of them. He leads the league in RBI, is second in Runs Scored, and 3rd in HR's and Runs Created. He is also Top 10 in OPS and Slugging, while maintaining a very good Batting Average and On Base Percentage.

Joe DiMaggio (Eugene Psycho Llamas)
.361 / .402 / .552, .953 OPS, 16 HR, 47 R, 58 RBI

The final Greenhorn candidate is Joe DiMaggio. A superb center fielder, DiMaggio hits for a high average and gets on base at a prolific clip (5th in league) while still hitting for above average however. However, his R and RBI totals are a bit low and his team is 7 games under .500 and not currently in the playoff picture.

Darkhorse Candidates
Bobby Murcer (Potomac Rage)-.352 / .402 / .524, 13 HR, 68 R, 52 RBI
Lou Gehrig (Potomac Rage)-.305 / .420 / .570, 16 HR, 48 R, 52 RBI
Larry Doby (Boston's Terrier)-.310 / .370 / .550, 15 HR, 51 R, 37 RBI

Mossback Candidates
Ted Williams (Lusitania Death Speakers)
.288 / .411 / .456, .868 OPS, 14 HR, 51 R, 62 RBI

Williams has been on fire of late, vaulting his team to first place in the Mossback Division. He's third in the league in RBI and has the best on base percentage among the Mossback "power hitters". On the downside, his slugging is pedestrian for an MVP candidate and the Death Speaker's lineup is littered with great hitters.

Norm Cash (John McDonald Fanclub)
.304 / .392 / .471, .863 OPS, 14 HR, 53 R, 51 RBI

I am not convinced Cash is a viable candidate. He scores highly in the rudimentary calculation I used to filter out the candidates because a) his team is good, b) he has a good OBP, and c) his counting stats are well above average. Voters will have a difficult time coming to terms with the .863 OPS. Still, he is very good at almost everything, and a lot can be said for that.

Derrek Lee (San Diego Puff)
.300 / .360 / .534, .894 OPS, 16 HR, 54 R, 56 RBI

Despite learning a new position, second base, Lee's offense has been superb. He's 5th in the league in HRs and R, 8th in RBI, and 2nd in SLG, astounding feats when compared with other middle infielders. He has two issues to overcome with respect to voter tendencies - a low OBP and a great teammate in George Sisler (.366 .401 .522)

Jimmy Foxx (Downsouth Brews)
.292 / .394 / .594, .988 OPS, 27 HR, 55 R, 71 RBI

If ever there was a case for a player to be given the MVP award on a team sitting home in October, it's with Jimmy Foxx this season. The Brews have been struggling lately, and are now just a game above .500 after leading the division into late May. The slide has been no fault of the first basemen's however. Foxx leads the division in SLG, HR, RBI, OPS, RC, RC/27, and is 4th in Runs. He is also Top 10 in On Base and hitting close to .300.

Darkhorse Candidates
George Sisler (San Diego Puff) - .366 / .401 / .522, 6 HR, 33, 38 RBI
Nap Lajoie (PG Gargle Blasters)- .358 / .396 / .498, 5 HR, 54 R, 44 RBI
Alex Rodriguez (PG Gargle Blasters)-.276 / .368 / .487, 20 H R, 59 R, 61 RBI

Sim 7A - No Games!

It's the three day all star break and no official games are on the docket. Happy Fathers day to all the Dad's out there.

Greenhorn Wins the All Star Game

The DC Chips and Sonoran Black Diamonds are battling it out in the Greenhorn Division, and perhaps it's fitting their two stars dominated the all star game in such a way, leaving many to wonder why the rest of the roster was even needed.

The Black Diamonds Barry Bonds drove in all 4 of the Greenhorn runners on a solo blast in the 4th and a bases clearing double in the 5th. The Chips Garland Braxton held the Mossbackers to 4 hits and no earned runs in 6 innings of work, earning the 4-2 win.

Mort Cooper of John McDonald Fanclub picked up the loss, going 4 2/3 yielding 5 hits, 3 walks and 4 earned runs.

Bill Dickey (Bostons Terrier) and Stan Musial (Oathbinders) had two hits a piece, while both relief corps pitched extremely well.

For kicks, I put both these squads in an alternate universe and simmed 162 games. It shed no light as to which division is better - their records were exactly 81-81.

Here is the box score for the All Star Game.

Week 7 Transactions

This was the most transactions ever requested in the history of ATB. Also had three teams in on the same player, twice, also a first time for ATB.

John McDonald Fanclub - Drop Roy Halladay and Spud Chandler

Potomac Rage - Drop Troy Percival

San Diego Puffs - Pick Up All Benton, 1945 and DL Cal Ripken

DC Chips
Drop Darrel Porter and claim Gene Tenace (1975).
Drop Dolph Camilli and claim Nick Maddux (1907)
Drop Steve Howe, Claim Ellis Kinder

Helena Handbaseket - Drop Wally Schang, pick up Wilbert Robinson, 1894

Willets Point "Mechanics" - Drop Pascual Perez, Sign Jimmy Key

Otherton Fishbiscuits
Pick up Fergie Jenkins, Drop Joaquin Soria
Pick up Charlie Radbourn, Drop Gus Weyhing

Standings Summary - Week 6

The biggest story coming out of the Mossback Division is the continued resurgence of the pre-season favorites, the Lusitania Death Speakers. With a 9-3 week the Speakers now have the best record in ATB and have opened up a commanding 4.5 game lead in their division. Almost benched after a dreadful week 5 that followed a dreadful weeks 1-4, DH Edgar Martinez came alive this sim batting .431 / .464 / .725 with 3 HR and 11 RBI.

Interestingly enough, owner Mike S made the smallest change to Martinez's player tendencies, asking the lefty to swing more and not take too many pitches. it worked immediately and has paid off.

The Greenhorn Division has six teams within 2 games of a playoff spot. After the DC Chips and Sonoran Black Diamonds put up .500 records in Week 6, Big Mac Special Sauce took advantage with an 11-3 Sim and are back in the division title hunt. Mark McGwire came alive with 6 HR and a 1.056 OPS and Russ Ford was named pitcher of the week.

Introducing.... Jesse Tannehill

More from Brett Kiser

During the first year of the two league platform, Tannehill paced the National League with a microscopic 2.18 ERA. Even better in 1902, Jesse lowered his ERA to 1.95 and posted another 20-win season with his trademark exceptional control. He tossed 231 innings for the Pirates and only issued 25 free passes–good for a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Jesse’s 0.108 walks per inning was better than Hall of Fame peers Jack Chesbro (0.217), Vic Willis (0.246) and Cy Young (0.138).

See the full article here.

Week 6 Players of the Week

Dan Brouthers of Willets Point is the Week 6 Batter of the Week. The first basemen batted .420 / .508 / .700, and compiled the second highest weekly Runs Created mark on the season at 20.4.




Russ Ford of the Big Mac Special Sauce is our Pitcher of the Week. He went undefeated with 2 wins in 3 starts, holding his opponents to just 14 hits and 4 walks in over 22 innings pitched. His ERA was 0.40 and RCERA 1.39. Fords prowess helped his team to a league best 11-3 record during Sim 6.

Sim 6E Complete

Combing Through the All Time Pitcher Leaders

Yesterday, we looked at few of the many interesting facts that could be gleamed from our new leader boards data. Today, we'll do the same for pitchers.

Take a gander at this. Who is the all time ERA leader? Pedro right? No, well then it must be Maddux? Hmm, is it really Randy Johnson 2004? Historically, this season for The Big Unit has been selected about half the time but apparently owners haven't caught on this is is the year to take. This might be my favorite nugget of all time:


3.23 ERA - ATB VI - RJ 1995
1.98 ERA - ATB VII - RJ 2004
3.35 ERA - ATB VIII - RJ 2004
2.63 ERA - ATB IX -RJ 2004

Hey, that is good string right? Of course, the very next season

4.57 ERA - ATB X - RJ 1999
4.66 ERA - ATB XI - RJ 1999

Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot. Someone needs to remember to draft RJ 2004 next time.

How about the find of Tex Hughson, 1946. We're in our 12 season of ATB, and Hughson was first drafted by Jason B in season 10. Hughson put up a 3.32 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. A year later, he repeated with another great season - 2.77 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. This year, again he follows suit with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He was drafted in the 9th Round this year, but perhaps he should go sooner.

Four pitchers have had 4 different seasons used over the past 6 years:

And finally I thought I would mention the all time WHIP leader for relievers was given his outright release this season, at the end of Week 5. I guess the All Stars should have stuck with 1955 (2.22 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 2 ATB seasons) instead of trying 1953 (5.85 ERA, 1.63 WHIP)

All Time Leader Boards Complete!

The Leader Boards are complete. What a fun exercise. They can be accessed here (plus a link to the left). Included are Career and Single Season leaders for pitchers and batters, the all time manager win and Power Ranking list, plus a Top 10 view of the Greatest:

Offensive Seasons
Non Power Seasons (offense)
Speedster Seasons
Starting Pitcher Seasons
Closer Seasons
Reliever Seasons (non Closers)

I will likely post the raw data files too.

Check it out and of course, post your comments!

Standings Charts - Week 6

The Lusitania and John McDonald show in the Mossback, while watch out for Boston's Terrier in the Greenhorn.

Player of the Month - June

Helena Handbasket's Mickey Mantle, or if you prefer The Commerce Comet or just The Mick, is our June batter of the Month. June's selection was an especially difficult choice - 5 players had Runs Created scores over 25, 6 had OPS scores of 1.000 or better, and 7 had at least 8 home runs. In the end only 1 person accomplished all that while leading the league in RBI as well. In June, Mantle batted .362 / .419 / .629 with 8 HR and 24 RBI.


Twice in the past three weeks Pedro Martinez was named player of the week and therefore it's no surprise to see him takes home the Pitcher of the Month hardware too. The only way to contain him, it appears, is to tie him to a post. His June stat line for the Fanclub: 3 W, 42 IP, 28 H, 8 BB, 38 K, 1.51 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 1.40 RCERA



Players of the Month
April - Barry Bonds (SDB) & Tex Hughson (JMF)
May - Joe DiMaggio (EPL) & Frank Killen (DC)
June - Mickey Mantle (HH) & Pedro Martinez (JMF)

Great Feats - 6D

6/28 - Ed Siever (SBD) records a highly efficient complete game. 85 Game Score in 87 Pitches
6/29 - Ed Walsh (EPL) scores an 85 of his own.
6/30 - Lady Baldwin (SBD) strikes out 15 and records an 86 Game Score.
6/30 - Atlee Hammacker (HH) tops 'em all with an 89 Game Score.

Sim 6D Complete

All Time ATB Leaderboards

I finally got around to starting somethign I have been meaning to attempt for years - compiling the all time leader boards for ATB. I was a dumb young bloke when ATB started (as opposed to a dumb old bloke now) and didn't have the foresight to save every seasons final stat lines, but have managed to uncover all seasons since and including ATB VI. In total, not counting the current season, that 6 seasons of data.

More than enough for an all time leaderboard. They'll be unveiled in the next few days on the ATB Home Page, but I found some interesting tidbits of data I couldn't keep to myself.

For instance, which year of the the great Mickey Mantle's is best? 1956 was used four times (ATB 6, 9, 10, and 11) while 1957 was used twice (ATB 7 and 8). I don't have park data compiled, so take the following with a bit of caution, but the '57 year is by far the greater of the two:

1956 - .299 / .380 / .521
1957 - .354 / .474 / .538

What about Babe Ruth? He has a few outstanding years that owners can choose from and 5 of the past 6 times, 1920 was the year selected. Makes sense - he has batted a combined .292 / .446 / .649 in those years, but the one selection of 1921 was just as good - .292 / .449 / .653 with 43 HR, 25 2B, and 14 triples.

Barry Bonds is a third batter in this category, and owners have chosen three different years for him:

2001 - 1 time - .270 / .411 / .677, 1.089 OPS
2002 - 4 time - .307 / .467 / .580, 1.047 OPS
2004 - 1 time - .331 / .472 / .751, 1.223 OPS

This year, the Black Diamonds chose 2001 and Bonds is batting .239 / .366 / .588. 2004 is quite incredible, but has never been used again (since ATB VI!).

It stands to reason that Alex Rodriguez is the most disappointing batter in ATB history. In the last 6 seasons, owners have selected 5 different years for the infielder. None have been particularly fruitful

1996 - .700 OPS
2002 - .679 OPS
2007 - .657 OPS
2001 - .653 OPS
2000 - .594 OPS

However, this season he is a starting 3rd basemen in the all star game, batting .285 / .379 / .488 off of his 2007 season.

I could spend all day on this, but will leave after one more. Stan Musial is never a Top 10 pick, and only rarely cracks the Top 15, but you can't argue with The Man's production. In a world dominated by OBP, OPS, and RC/27, Musial quietly accumulates a staggering amount of counting stats:

1st in RBI - 715
2nd in Total Bases - 2004
2nd in Triples - 94
3rd in Extra Base Hits - 424
4th in RC - 676
5th in Runs - 594

(as you may have guessed, I have only started compiling the batter stats).

Power Alley Super 7 - Week 6

Sim 6C Complete

Great Feats - 6C

6/25 - Lady Baldwin (SBD) strikes out 13.

Good, Great, and Ugly - Week 6

Great Feats - 6A and 6B

6/21 - For the second time this season, Roger Conner (RBB) smacks out 5 hits.
6/21 - Noodles Hahn (DMO) tosses a 2 hitter.
6/22 - Harmon Killebrew (DB) drives in 6 on 2 home runs.

Power Alley - Week 6

• The top 5 teams remain the same, though last weeks #1 Dumai's Wells loses 4 slots in the rankings and currently sits at 5th.
• Our new #1 is John McDonald Fanclub. Riding an 8 game winning streak, Fanclub is just 1 game out of first place in the Mossback Division. It's cherry picking, but since May 21 the Fanclub have the best record in the game at 26-7 (.788 wpct). All season long their pitching staff has anchored the team, but recently Gary Sheffield has come alive batting .354 / .430 / .614 in the last 33 games. The rest of the offense has been solid, with a team batting line of .296 / .367 / .414 in the same period.
• Boston's Terrier has gained significant ground too, rising 4 slots to 9th overall. They're now at exactly .500 and just 2.5 games out of the Greenhorn Wild Card race.

Sim 6B Complete

Mossback All Star Rotation

#1 SP - Mort Cooper, JMF
#2 SP - Pedro Martinez, JMF
#3 SP - Babe Adams, DWO
#4 SP - Scott Stratton, SDP
#5 SP - Johan Santana, CS

Mop Up - Steve Carlton, DB
Long Relief - Erig Gagne, SOP
Lefty Set-Up - Billy Wagner, DOW
Righty Set-Up - Jeff Zimmerman, LDS
Closer - Dennis Eckersley, SDP


The Mossback starting rotation is clearly the superior of the two divisions. All 5 starters have ERA's under 2.55 and the team aggregate WHIP is 1.00. Interestingly, John McDonald Fanclub currently sports the top two starters in all of ATB at the moment too.

The Dumai's Wells Oathbinders, John McDonald Fanclub, and San Diego Puff have two representatives each.