Good Players on Bad Teams

Toiling in obscurity on a major league club is certainly a drawback, but toiling in obscurity in a computer league run from some mother's basement has to be a killer.

Here are the greatest players on the worst teams (so far) of ATB:

Downsouth Brews (28-52)
The Brews have several good players in their lineup, but too many black holes to ultimately overcome. The best of these good ones is likely Joltin' Joe DiMaggio; we all know about his excellent defense but DiMaggio is quietly in the Top 10 for Extra Base hits as well thanks to his 19 doubles and three triples. Overall, his line: .296 / .346 / .467, 9 HR, 41 R, 51 RBI. Tip O' the Hat to Jimmie Foxx and his .279 / .361 / .503 slash rate line.

Texas Gringos (29-50)
Poor Mark McGwire. In the midst of what may end up being his finest ATB campaign ever, McGwire is blasting home runs at a prolific pace, tied with Babe Ruth for the lead league. He's also top 3 in Slugging Percentage and RBI. His line: .257 / .413 / .574, 26 HR, 50 R, 70 RBI. Tip O' the hat to Rogers Hornsby who is batting .349 / .424 / .437.

John McDonald Fanclub (29-50)
This is a new position for Fanclub, historically a very good team, the Franchise has fallen upon hard times this season. In fact, it could be much worse, as a typically low-end player is having a high end year, leading the offense in many categories. Luis Gonzalez is batting .302 / .351 / .545 with 15 doubles and 16 home runs. He's also driven in 47. Tip O' the Hat goes to Tris Speaker who is batting .312 / .365 / .385 with Ex/74 defense.

Nottingham Outlaws (32-48)
New to ATB, the Outlaws went with a classic "Baseball Reference" squad, focusing on historical league leaders in batting average an ERA. It hasn't worked out as well as they'd hoped, but closer Jim Brewer is mowing all opponents down. Brewer is holding lefty batters to a .191 opponents batting average and has an overall line of: 2.79 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 42 IP, 32 H, 11 BB, 27 K. Tip O' the Hat to Hugh Duffy who is batting .320 / .366 / .458.*

*In hindsight, he's better than Brewer. I must have been tired of not finding any good pitchers!

Bridgewater Brazen Beanballers (33-47)
If the Fanclub franchise is struggling to deal with a bad team for the first time, then the Beanballers must be pulling their collective hair out. Owner Justin P is currently ranked first all time for his ATB drafting and managing abilities, yet finds himself 16 games out of first before we reach the all star break. Still, he has to be happy with the Vg center fielder, Lip Pike. Pike was a gamble, never having been used before, but to date his line of .329 / .363 / .441 has been very good, making him a Top 10 overall center fielder. He's leading the league in doubles as well, on pace for over 50 on the season. Tip O the Hat to Bert Dorr and his 2.85 ERA and 75 K's in 85 innings of work.

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