National League All Stars - CORRECTION

Starters
C - Bill Dickey, Pinata Beaters
1B - Norm Cash, Isotopes
2B - Jose Altuve, Isotopes
3B - Mike Schmidt, Cobblers
SS - Honus Wagner, Cobblers
LF - Ted Williams, Lookouts
CF - Oscar Charleston, Pinata Beaters
RF - Stan Musial, Batters
DH - Reggie Jackson, Isotopes

SP 1 - Johnny Podres, Batters
SP 2 - Ed Siever, Toppins
SP 3 - Addie Joss, Brews

SU L - Gabe White, Batters
SU R - Huston Street, Toppins

CL - JJ Putz, Cobblers

Backups
C - Mike Piazza, Spiders
Walleyes Rep - Bobby Murcer, CF
MI - Hughie Jennings, Hellcats
CI - George Brett, Zeros
OF - Frank Robinson, Lookouts
SP - Mike Mussina, Hellcats
LR - Aaron Nola, Brews
RP - Red Ryan, Batters
Red Lectroids Rep - Tom Bradley

American League All Stars

Starters
C - Deacon White, Otters
1B - Lou Gehrig, Foxes
2B - Fred Dunlap, Otters
3B - Melvin Mora, N95ers
SS - Arky Vaughan, Miners
LF - Barry Bonds, Failures
RF - Babe Ruth, Mechanics
CF - Hugh Duffy, Cloverleafs
DH - Turkey Stearnes, N95ers

SP 1 - Ron Guidry, Cloverleafs
SP 2 - Vern Law, Otters
SP 3 - Nip Winters, Otters

SU L - Mike Myers, Otters
SU R - Ryan Madsen, Cole Trains

CL - Dan Quisenberry, Highlanders

Backups
C - King Kelly, Red Eagles
OF - Joe Dimaggio, Bivalves
MI - Ross Barnes, Red Eagles
CI - Buck Leonard, Otters
Tigers Rep - Mike Donlin
SP - Randy Johnson, Highlanders
LR - Atlee Hammacker, Cloverleafs
RP - Jonathan Papelbon, Otters
RP - Bob Howry, Failures

20 Resims - # 14 - Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars

800 OPS Batters: 

.896 – Ross Barnes

.837 – Mark McGwire

.800 – Albert Belle

Sub 3.75 ERA Starters

None

One great SP would have gone a long way to making this team top 10.  The offense was quite good, but perhaps a starter in Rd 4 instead of Mike Trout (.238 / .330 / .373) would have been a better option.

Sub 3.00 ERA Relievers

2.75 – Jeff Zimmerman

Best Value Draft Pick

Rd 15 – Lindy McDaniel (129 IP, 1.21 WHIP)

Bust Draft Pick

Rd 8 – Catfish Hunter (4.48 ERA)

#24 - 61 W - Colorado Greensox
#23 - 67 W - Downsouth Brews
#22 - 70 W - Tampa Bay Muffin Stuffers
#21 - 72 W - Helena Handbasket
#20 - 70 W - New York Mammoths
#19 - 75 W - Washington Rain33
#18 - 76 W - Carlisle "Mechanics"
#17 - 78 W - Bostons Terrier
#17 - 79 W - Planet 10 Red Lectroids (tied)
#15 - 80 W - Riverside Park Furies
#14 - 81 W - Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars

Checking in on the New Guys - Pitchers

And 26 pitchers...

Starting Pitchers

Full Time Relievers

Limited Use Pitchers

Checking in on the New Guys - Batters

Between the draft and the Free Agent process, owners created a whopping 29 new batters this year.  Eight of them are full time (or close to full time) players, five are part time, and 15 are role players coming off the bench.

Here's how they are faring to date (click each chart to enlarge):

Full Time Players

Part Time Players

Role Players

Power Alley

Week 5

+3: Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars

+3 Washington Rain33

-4: Otherton Fishbiscuits

-3: DC Chips

-3: Helena Handbasket

Power Alley - Week 2

+14: Bostons Terrier
+6:: Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars
+6:: Planet 10 Red Lectroids
+4:: John McDonald Fanclub
+4:: Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters

-12: Washington Rain33
-10: Shamokin Miners
-7:: NY Mammoths
-5:: Colorado Green Sox

The Great, The Good, and the Ugly - Week 2

The Good, the Great, and the Ugly - Week 1

20 Resims: #13 - Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars

I still can’t decide if playing in the Baker Bowl (300 HR Park Factor) was a good thing or bad.  On the positive side, the Rusty Kuntz All Stars scored runs in bunches, drilling 313 home runs and leading all of ATB in slugging and ISO.  Lists are fun:

45 HR – Reggie Jackson
41 HR – Roger Maris
43 HR – Willie Stargell
40 HR – Carlos Pena
36 HR – Joe DiMaggio
28 HR – Ken Caminiti
25 HR – Bobby Grich
21 HR – Chris Hoiles 

That’s a lot of power.  The Baker Bowl also suppresses singles by about 10% which means fewer base runners to score on all those home runs.  The team's OBP was just .301 and four every day players recorded OBP’s well under .300.

Of course all those home runs can devastate a pitching staff too.  Here’s the 500 resim ERA and 20 Resim ERA for key starting pitchers, side by side.

3.27 vs 4.38 – Walter Johnson
3.79 vs 4.89 – Cy Young
3.90 vs 4.79 – Tex Hughson
3.77 vs 4.48 – Ron Guidry

The bullpen was much the same:

2.63 vs 3.02 – Joe Nathan
2.57 vs 3.50 – JJ Putz
3.38 vs 4.19 – Bryan Harvey
3.12 vs 4.14 – Derek Lilliquist

They sure were fun to watch though.  It would be interesting to see how this team would have fared with a better defense to aid the pitching staff – only two regulars should be considered above average defenders.  Or perhaps swapping one of the power hitters for a high OBP guy like Billy Hamilton (Rd 4).

A final fun stat to leave with – the All Stars with 3rd in scoring, yet no player averaged 100 or more RBI.  However, five regulars did average between 87 and 98, now that is a balanced lineup

800 OPS Batters: 
.851 – Joe DiMaggio
.827 – Willie Stargell

Sub 4.00 ERA Starters
None

Sub 3.25 ERA Relievers
3.02 – Joe Nathan

Best Value Draft Pick
Rd 18 – Roger Maris.  Hey, had had crazy holes in his swing but he did drill 41 home runs and drive in 87

Bust Draft Pick
Rd 4 – Tex Hughson (4.79 ERA, 1.35 WHIP)

We’re halfway through, here is how the divisions are looking.  It’s safe to say the AL West and NL Central were the worst divisions in ATB, with just 1 team in each ranking in the upper half of the league.

20 Resim Results

24) 64 wins, Downsouth Brews

23) 66 wins, Colorado Green Sox

22) 72 wins, Lancaster Pretty Ladies

21) 69 wins, Detroit Tigers
20) 74 wins, Platte County Burnt Ends
19) 75 wins, Leesburg Snowhole
18) 77 wins, Planet 10 Red Lectroids
17) 78 wins, Rochester Beau Brummels
16) 79 wins, Otherton Fishbiscuits
15) 79 wins, North Valley Bears
14) 81 wins, Niagara Frontier Blackbirds
13) 81 wins, Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars

AL Reliever of the Year

Parentheses at end are (1st Place Votes, 2nd Place Votes, 3rd Place Votes / Total Ballots)

1) 70 Points-Eric Gagne, SH ---------(11, 5, 0 / 16 ballots)
2) 22 Points-Bobby Jenks, SH -------- (3, 1, 4 / 8 ballots)
3) 14 Points-Joaquin Benoit, WPM ---- (0, 3, 5 / 8 ballots)
4) 13 Points-Red Ryan, WPM ---------- (2, 1, 0 / 3 ballots)
5) 11 Points-Rafael Betancourt, PRL - (1, 2, 0 / 3 ballots)
6) 5 Points-Fernando Rodney, MRE ---- (0, 1, 2 / 3 ballots)
7) 5 Points-Porter Charleston, MRE -- (0, 1, 2 / 3 ballots)
8) 4 Points-Mariano Rivera, BF ------ (0, 1, 1 / 2 ballots)
9) 4 Points-Joe Nathan, RKA --------- (0, 1, 1 / 2 ballots)
10) 3 Points-Billy Wagner, TWW ------ (0, 1, 0 / 1 ballots)
11) 2 Points-Greg Holland, TWW ------ (0, 0, 2 / 2 ballots)

Really no surprise here.  Gagne was a closer with the 2nd most saves in the league and a 0.80 ERA.  He had to win.

Interestingly, teammate Bobby Jenks grabs second (with 3 first place votes) and the 3rd/4th place relievers are also from the AL East.

Races Update

AL West

All Eyes turn toward the three game set 9/27-9/29

AL Wild Card

Red Lectroids will not go away, making strides and hurting their "Mechanic" rivals at the same time.

Both teams can't lose another game

NL Wild Card

Is basically over

Suddenly AL West Race Matters

After taking the first two games against John McDonald, Rusty Kuntz suddenly finds themselves just 3 games out 8 games remaining.  More importantly, four of those games are against the team they are chasing.

In game 1, Juan Padron picked up his 10th win thanks to Roger Maris and Joe DiMaggio home runs.  In game 2, Cy Young tossed a 3-hitter and Reggie Jackson went nuts, drilling 3 home runs, all solo shots.

Players of the Week - Sim 11

Willie Stargell (Rusty Kuntz All Stars)
.462 / .543 / .1.256, 1.800 OPS, 27.6 RC, 10 HR, 13 RBI

Nip Winters (Leesburg Snowhole)
1-1, 1.50 ERA, 1.03 RCERA, 18 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 16 K, 0.61 WHIP

The Playoff Race

Isn't exactly edge of your seat stuff.  In what's shaping to be the most boring ATB XV regular season in recent memory, it also promises to be the most exciting post-seasons in recent memory.

With the close of Sim 10A only one division crown was (nominally) up for grabs - the AL West.  Across the remaining 5 divisions the average division lead  was almost 13 1/2 games, with 4 and possibly 5 teams accelerating towards 100 win seasons.

The Sparta Hoplites and Manetheren Red Eagles are on pace for 104 and 103 win seasons respectively.  Over in the senior circuit, the Birghton Shadows are on pace for 101 wins while the Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters and Shamokin Miners are on pace for 97 and 93 wins, respectively.  Since the All-Star break the two best teams in ATB are the Beaters and Miners, so it stands to reason they have legitimate shots and 100 wins.  The Miners have won 30 of 43, a historic type of run.

Here are the # of 100 win seasons since records started being kept in ATB 6:

0 - ATB 6
1 - ATB 7
0 - ATB 8
1 - ATB 9
1 - ATB 10
3 - ATB 11*
2 - ATB 12
1 - ATB 13
1 - ATB 14

*What a great year this was.  Bellevue Freakin' Franchise won 106 games with a +238 run differential and took home the title.  John McDonald Fanclub won 109 games, but were swept in the opening round.  And the Windy City Potato Pickers won 111 games but they two were swept in the first round.

Anything can happen in the playoffs and the Wild Card Contenders (The Wall, Rusty Kuntz, Carlisle, Otherton, and North Valley) will certainly take umbrage with it, but the thought of four 100-win teams facing off in League Championship Series would be memorable to say the least.

If the regular season ended today we'd have:

American League
#3 John McDonald Fanclub @ #1 Sparta Hoplites
#4 Wildlings of the Wall @ #2 Manetheren Red Eagles
(Note, TWW cannot play SH because they are in the same division)

National League
#4 Otherton Fishbiscuits @ #1 Brighton Shadows
#3 Shamokin Miners @ #2 Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters

Power Alley - Week 9

+6 Otherton Fishbiscuits
+5 DC Chips

-4 Carlisle "Mechanics"
-6 Rusty Kuntz Travelling All Stars
-3 Niagara Frontier Blackbirds

Standings Summary - Week 8

The American League team of the week is once again the Sparta Hoplites.  I tried to make a case for the 11-4 Carlisle "Mechanics" but Sparta simply had a better week, outscoring their opponents by 43 runs (76 RF, 33 RA) wich more than doubled Carlisle's run differential.  

The Hoplites are firing on all cylinders.  Their offense was good in Week 8 (.272 / .352 / .406) but it was their pitching that made them team of the week.  Incredibly, just one pitcher - Jerry Reuss - had an ERA over 2.75 and his was well below the league average anyway.  It's worth a list:

0.00 ERA - Eric Gagne (9 IP)

0.00 ERA - Andrew Bailey (1 IP)

1.59 ERA - Bobby Jenks (5.2 IP, and finally gave up a run!)

1.64 ERA - Greg Maddux (22 IP)

1.80 ERA - Warren Hacker (25 IP)

2.14 ERA - Kevin Brown (21 IP)

2.25 ERA - Kevin Saucier (4 IP)

2.45 ERA - Steve Howe (7.1 IP)

2.74 ERA - Frank Sullivan (23 IP)

3.46 ERA - Jerry Reuss (13 IP)

There were four offensive stars this week as well.  Orator Shaffer hit .390 / .439 / .542, Chipper Jones had a .460 OBP, Rico Petrocelli smacked 5 home runs, and Edgar Martinez continued a quietly great season batting .339 / 397 / .464.

En route to their 11-3 record, the Hoplites swept the Green Sox, took 2 of 3 from the Fanclub, and 4 of 5 from the All Stars.  They also split a 2 game series with the Beau Brummels and had sole victory over the Brews.  Only once did they yield more than 4 runs.

Over in the National League, Spanish Harlem continued the torture on owner Justin P.  A great team despite being prone to extended winning and losing streaks, the Pinata Beaters opened up a 9 game lead on the division thanks to a stellar 12-2 sim.

The opened the week with a 7 game winning streak, sweeping the Bears and Panda's after concluding rubber match with the Biscuits with a victory.  After losing two in a row at the hands of the streaking Miners, they kicked off an in progress 5 game winning streak salvaging the last game against the Miners then taking two each from the Pretty Ladies and the Bears.

It's bad news for the league that the struggling Jesse Tannehill turned his season around this week.  In three starts he went undefeated, completing two games, and gave up just 11 hits in 25 innings.  John Tudor and Harvey Haddix were stellar too, combining to give up just 9 runs in 6 starts.

Oscar Charleston must be battling the flu as the star center fielder batting just .340 / .476 / .500.  Not too worry as the team's infielders filled the roles of superstar.  Cupid Childs batted .426 / .446 / .648, John Olerud led the team in RBI and Wade Boggs had a .932 OPS.

Wild Card Standings

Unsung Hero's of the Contenders

Great's like Oscar Charleston and Pedro Martinez are cornerstones of winning ball clubs but they can only get you so far.  A true contender needs successful role players as well, and here's some recognition to the little known hero's I spotted while perusing the league reports.

The definition of contenders was purposely kept strict to reduce the research (sorry!); the teams below are within 3 games of a Division or Wild Card Race

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Sparta Hoplites
Frank Sullivan, SP

On a staff with Greg Maddux and Kevin Brown, it's easy to forget the 3rd starter Frank Sullivan.  Drafted in the 16th round, Sullivan was hardly a critical player for owner Sean S but at the same time, as 3rd starter to begin the season Sullivan had an important role.  He's been great winning 8 of 13 with a 3.35 ERA.  Opponents have managed just 133 hits against him in 150 innings.

Manetheren Red Eagles
Norman Yokely, SP

Similar to Sullivan, Yokely was a mid round (16th) selection to be inserted into the back end of the rotation as 4th starter.  He's been much better than advertised, going 11-3 with a 3.42 RCERA (3.14 CERA).

John McDonald Fanclub
Ken Sanders, RP extraordinaire

Sanders has been used in multiple roles this season, and has settled in as the team's #1 Long Reliever and #1 setup man versus righties.  The 18th rounder has pitched in 96 innings, winning 8 of 10 with a 2.43 ERA.

Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars
Carlos Pena, 1B

It's difficult to maintain a high batting average when playing home games in the Baker Bowl (90 park factor for singles) so Pena has been forced to become a bit more one dimensional than he may have been accustomed too (when in Rome right?).  The 14th rounder is second on the team in RBI (57) and third in home runs (26) holding down the cleanup spot in the All Star lineup.

Carlisle "Mechanics"
Robin Roberts, SP

Nice run by the "Mechanics", after their poor start I was surprised to seem them just 2.5 games out of the playoffs. Roberts is the teams 4th starter, an especially important role when considering their 5th starter, John Smoltz, is really a closer playing out of position.*  Roberts has been great - 8-5, 3.04 ERA - extreme value for a 21st round draft pick.

* Several teams have tried this during the year with mostly poor success.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Brighton Shadows
Darren Daulton, C

Despite being drafted in the 19th Round, Daulton was intended to the Shadows starting catcher - their backup, Johnny Kling, was drafted in the 24th.  Daulton has been one of the best catchers in the league with 21 HR's in 251 at bats, his OBP is respectable at .329 while he slugs almost as much as 2nd rounder Josh Gibson

Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters
Ed Siever, SP

Who needs role players when you have Oscar Charleston.  In truth, it seems Justin P is getting exactly what he needs out of just about every player on his roster - no major surprises for good or ill.  We'll give credit to 10th rounder and 4th starter Siever, whose 13-6 with a 2.94 ERA.

Shamokin Miners
Tommy Holmes, OF

.301 / .340 / .543 with 21 HR in 322 AB.  That is one heck of a line for an 11th rounder and Holmes has to be wondering what left he has to prove to become a full time player.

North Valley Bears
Ed Reulbach, SP

The Bears are in a bit of a spiral, hopefully not so bad that it leaves them out of the playoffs.  One of the key's to their rebound will be 5th starter Ed Reulbach.  The righty has performed very well this year (6-2, 3.50 ERA, 103 IP, 86 H) and NL West teams should expect owner TJ O to either bump him up in the rotation or at least make him start every 5 days.

Puerto Cabellas Pandas
Phil Cavaretta, 1B

This is my kind of unsung hero.  17th round first basemen who fights his way to the top of the lineup thanks to a .385 on base average.  He's on pace for 90+ runs, 25 doubles, and 15 triples.

There are dozens of other players, some on these same very teams, that all have been drafted late and are performing better than expectations.  Here's to their success, and here's to 1998 Scott Brosius!

Power Alley Great 8 - Week 5

I changed the Great 8 graph to show the annual trend in the Power Alley "Quality Wins" as opposed to simply the overall rank position of each team.  The higher the number the better.

All Star Races - Righty Setup

American League

National League