20 Resims: #19 Indiana Black Sox

At the end of each season owners may submit a new lineup that is used in the 20 Resim competition.  This competition is purely for speculation and is used as a gauge to determine who had the best draft.  The true ATB champion remains the World Series winner.

20 seasons are automatically simulated and compiled.  No lineup changes are allowed and injuries are turned off.  Through a formula that considers Win-Loss record, Playoff Appearances, and Pythagorean Record the teams are ranked in order from worst to first.

Special thanks to Justin B who provided the formula and methodology behind the raw park OPS values, which provides a new way to interpret park factors.

A hearty thanks to Gambz who stepped into a bad situation one week into the season, replacing an owner who suddenly quit on no notice.  Gambz worked through several trades which we will not rehash here, but sufficed to say he wanted offense and he got it. 

Moving the team to the most prolific hitter’s park in history had its desired effect, and an average skilled lineup ended up scoring 724 runs, 8th overall.  Willie Mays and Kevin Mitchell, despite some OBP shortcomings, each drilled 39 home runs and drove in over 100. 

Second basemen Nap Lajoie (below) flourished while Joe Medwick and Don Mattingly combined to hit 65 doubles a season.

Of course, playing in a bandbox came with a price.  The pitching staff struggled to keep up and even normally solid pitchers such as Rube Waddell (4.17 ERA) and Takashi Saito (3.75) did not live up to expectations.  One to keep an eye on however, was starter Randy Jones who managed a 4.26 ERA and 1.35 WHIP despite Coors Field.

Finally, this is a team clearly better than the previous five.  So far, the 20th to 24th ranked teams averaged an 80 win “max potential”.  The Black Sox came in with an 88 max win potential thanks to 782 runs scored in sim 11 and 714 runs allowed in sim 14, the combination resulting in a solid +68 Run Differential

800 OPS Batters:
Nap Lajoie: .826 OPS, .327 / .364 / .462

Sub 4.00 ERA Starters
None

Sub 3.25 ERA Relievers
Troy Percival: 3.14 ERA in 78 IP

Best Value Draft Pick
Rd 17: Percival

Bust Draft Pick
Rd 3: Tom Seaver (12-17, 4.83 ERA, 1.53 WHIP)

Tally
#24 - Downsouth Brews
#23 - Leesburg Snow
#22 – dogphin29
#21 – Team America World Police
#21 – Uncle Robbie’s Daffiness Boys
#19 – Indiana Black Sox