100 Sim Results - Left Field

These are the results of 100 baseline resims (ended up being 95 seasons due to a silly mistake on my part, though I will continue to call it the 100 sim baseline). Each season was run in neutral parks. Injuries were turned on, each team had a strict 5 man rotation, and the schedule was set for 154 games. To date, we've completed the reviews for catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, and shortstops. Here is a link to the full detail by position.

Left field is the premier offensive position in ATB. 6 players averaged an OPS of .850 or better over the course of the 100 resims, and thre of them where from left fielders. No other position has multiple players of this caliber.

Leading the way is 2002 Barry Bonds, an absolute monster. He averaged a slash line of .292 / .485 / .549 with an OPS of 1.034, 36 HR, 112 R, 110 RBI, and 14 SB. That’s his average mind you! His ceiling was off the charts, a .321 / .516 / .705 showing with 49 HR.

At a distant second to Bonds, but still Top-3 overall in the game, is 1941 Ted Williams. Williams hits about 35 points better than Bonds, and has a similar number of extra base hits, but doesn’t walk nearly as much. This isn’t a knock, his OBP is 4th best in the game, but does illustrate what additional value Bonds brings to a team.

1887 Tip O’Neil finishes a clear cut third thanks to a .322 / .381 / .476 line. He is an extra base hit machine belting an average of 39 doubles, 11 triples, and 11 home runs per season. He has some speed as well, stealing about 24 bases each simulation.

After the big 3 comes a serious drop off in talent. 1990 Rickey Henderson, 1899 Ed Delahanty, 1906 George Stone, 1928 Goose Goslin, and 1967 Carl Yastrzemski each clocked in with OPS scores between .737 and and .751. Delahanty and Stone provide the best on base skills (about .350) while Yaz has the most power with an average of 25 home runs per season. 1901 Jesse Burkett also deserves mentione due to his .360 OBP, but his power (.355 SLG) makes him a clear tier below.


Their Rankings:

01) 0.292 / 0.485 / 0.549 - 2002 Bonds,Barry
02) 0.326 / 0.435 / 0.523 - 1941 Williams,Ted
03) 0.322 / 0.381 / 0.476 - 1887 O'Neill,Tip
04) 0.258 / 0.342 / 0.397 - 1990 Henderson,Rickey
05) 0.308 / 0.349 / 0.402 - 1899 Delahanty,Ed
06) 0.299 / 0.350 / 0.392 - 1906 Stone,George
07) 0.282 / 0.333 / 0.411 - 1928 Goslin,Goose
08) 0.256 / 0.326 / 0.411 - 1967 Yastrzemski,Carl
09) 0.297 / 0.360 / 0.355 - 1901 Burkett,Jesse
10) 0.233 / 0.306 / 0.409 - 2001 Gonzalez,Luis
11) 0.282 / 0.348 / 0.351 - 1897 Clarke,Fred
12) 0.271 / 0.296 / 0.419 - 1937 Medwick,Joe
13) 0.283 / 0.324 / 0.362 - 1924 Wheat,Zack

Recapping the #1 choices at each position
CA-’86 Kelly - -.310 / .399 / .380, 179 TB
1B-’27 Gehrig - .297 / .375 / .584, 336 TB
2B-’24 Hornsby- .301 / .373 / .444, 260 TB
3B-’80 Brett - -.304 / .351 / .454, 278 TB
SS-’35 Vaughan -.274 / .366 / .381, 226 TB
LF-’02 Bonds - -.292 / .485 / .549, 263 TB

100 Sim Season Results - Shortstop

These are the results of 100 baseline resims (ended up being 95 seasons due to a silly mistake on my part, though I will continue to call it the 100 sim baseline). Each season was run in neutral parks. Injuries were turned on, each team had a strict 5 man rotation, and the schedule was set for 154 games. To date, we've completed the reviews for catchers, first basemen, second basemen, and third basemen. Here is a link to the full detail by position.

At shortstop, 1935 Arky Vaughan and 1908 Honus Wagner come in ranked as 1 and 1A. Vaughan, the standard pick for first shortstop taken offers great balance - .274 / .366 / .381 with 14 HR and a .747 OPS. Wagner, while hitting few home runs, offers significant improvements in overall gap power (51 EBH vs 35) but this is at a cost of OBP. His slash line is .293 / .337 / .418 with a .755 OPS. Wagner also steals 35 bases per season while Vaughan attempts less than 5 pe year. Either is a fine choice for the first shortstop taken off the board, and an acceptable first rounder.

Pickings quickly become slim after this elite 1-2 combination. No other shortstop averaged a .700 OPS though there is defintely some value to be found.

• Negro leaguer Pop Lloyd (1910) averaged a .351 OBP with 19 doubles and 35 stolen bases

• 1948 Lou Boudreau batted .276 with a .335 OBP and 177 total bases

• 1896 Hughie Jennings can still take a pitch on the shoulder, averaging 55 HBP per year and a .374 OBP.

• The premier power hitter, 1969 Rico Petrocelli, hit 17 HR per year but batted just .215 with a .287 OBP.

The Top 15…

01) 0.274 / 0.366 / 0.381 - 1935 Vaughan,Arky

02) 0.293 / 0.337 / 0.418 - 1908 Wagner,Honus

03) 0.275 / 0.351 / 0.348 - 1910 Lloyd,Pop

04) 0.276 / 0.335 / 0.353 - 1948 Boudreau,Lou

05) 0.296 / 0.374 / 0.317 - 1896 Jennings,Hughie

06) 0.253 / 0.295 / 0.374 - 1982 Yount,Robin

07) 0.253 / 0.338 / 0.308 - 1923 Sewell,Joe

08) 0.215 / 0.287 / 0.358 - 1969 Petrocelli,Rico

09) 0.276 / 0.336 / 0.292 - 1936 Appling,Luke

10) 0.261 / 0.294 / 0.337 - 2000 Garciaparra,Nomar

11) 0.232 / 0.294 / 0.332 - 1896 Dahlen,Bill

12) 0.201 / 0.282 / 0.302 - 1996 Larkin,Barry

13) 0.262 / 0.323 / 0.284 - 1943 Appling,Luke

14) 0.261 / 0.302 / 0.297 - 1886 Glasscock,Jack

15) 0.245 / 0.312 / 0.262 - 1926 Bancroft,Dave

Recapping the #1 choices at each position

CA-’86 Kelly - -.310 / .399 / .380, 179 TB

1B-’27 Gehrig - .297 / .375 / .584, 336 TB

2B-’24 Hornsby- .301 / .373 / .444, 260 TB

3B-’80 Brett - -.304 / .351 / .454, 278 TB

SS-’35 Vaughan -.274 / .366 / .381, 226 TB

100 Sim Season Results - Third Base

These are the results of 100 baseline resims (ended up being 95 seasons due to a silly mistake on my part, though I will continue to call it the 100 sim baseline). Each season was run in neutral parks. Injuries were turned on, each team had a strict 5 man rotation, and the schedule was set for 154 games. To date, we've completed the reviews for catchers, first basemen, and second basemen. Here is a link to the full detail by position.

I guess 1980 George Brett is a better choice than 1899 John McGraw, but by no means am I convinced of it. Brett is an all around hitter - he bats for average (.304), power (.454 SLG) and has decent speed (18 SB). He also has the second highest on base percentage among third basemen at .351. You can't go wrong right?

True, but maybe you could do better. Would you rather what Brett brings or an astounding .449 OBP, third best among all positions? It's not cut and dry by any means. John McGraw is an OBP machine, averaged 126 walks a season. He also is extremely fast, stealing successfully about 76 times each year, topping out at 105 in Sim #1. (Of interest, McGraw had the top 42 seasons for stolen bases in the 95 resims).

Elsewhere, 1953 Al Rosen is George Brett light (.270 / .325 / .424), 1954 Eddie Mathews provides some pop (32 HR's), and 2008 Chipper Jones has a well above average OBP (.365).

Before moving to the Top 15 list, a note on Mike Schmidt. I am slightly apalled that DMB game engine pours so much hate on the Schmidt, arguably the best 3rd basemen in the post war era. At the time of this writing there are 6 different Schmidt seasons in the database. In past ATB seasons, he's sucked in every single one of them. A large part of me loosened the playing time restrictions going forward just to see how the famous 1981 Mike Schmidt would fair. My money is still on a stinker.

01) 0.304 / 0.351 / 0.454 - 1980 Brett,George

02) 0.310 / 0.449 / 0.330 - 1899 McGraw,John

03) 0.270 / 0.325 / 0.424 - 1953 Rosen,Al

04) 0.223 / 0.317 / 0.426 - 1954 Mathews,Eddie

05) 0.284 / 0.365 / 0.345 - 2008 Jones,Chipper

06) 0.239 / 0.293 / 0.420 - 1966 Allen,Dick

07) 0.274 / 0.329 / 0.362 - 1913 Baker,Frank

08) 0.280 / 0.311 / 0.361 - 1971 Torre,Joe

09) 0.255 / 0.289 / 0.384 - 2004 Beltre,Adrian

10) 0.281 / 0.364 / 0.309 - 1988 Boggs,Wade

11) 0.227 / 0.300 / 0.349 - 2004 Rolen,Scott

12) 0.209 / 0.295 / 0.353 - 1982 Schmidt,Mike

13) 0.228 / 0.305 / 0.308 - 1966 Santo,Ron

14) 0.237 / 0.338 / 0.271 - 1884 Sutton,Ezra

15) 0.228 / 0.265 / 0.295 - 1964 Robinson,Brooks

Recapping the #1 choices at each position

CA-’86 Kelly - -.310 / .399 / .380, 179 TB

1B-’27 Gehrig - .297 / .375 / .584, 336 TB

2B-’24 Hornsby- .301 / .373 / .444, 260 TB

3B-’80 Brett - -.304 / .351 / .454, 278 TB

100 Sim Season Results - Second Base

These are the results of 100 baseline resims (ended up being 95 seasons due to a silly mistake on my part, though I will continue to call it the 100 sim baseline). Each season was run in neutral parks. Injuries were turned on, each team had a strict 5 man rotation, and the schedule was set for 154 games. To date, we've completed the reviews for catchers and first basemen. Here is a link to the full detail by position.

Like we saw at first base, there is one player that is leaps and bounds above the field at second base. 1924 Rogers Hornsby leads all second baggers in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, TOPS, Total Bases, and Runs Created. He averaged 46 extra base hits, 16 of them home runs. He is the best pure hitting second basemen in ATB, only hampered by his lack of speed (6 stolen bases).

Behind Rajah is 1976 Joe Morgan and 1884 Fred Dunlap. Morgan walks and hits for more power, but Dunlap's contact rates gives him a 40 point edge in batting average and a less drastic 16 point edge in slugging. They both have a .348 OBP so lets call it an owner preference - choose what you want - power and speed or better rate stats.

Coming in at three and four are, and I hate to say it, a disappointing Eddie Collins and Nap Lajoie. Collins at least gives you Ex defense and has a great .365 OBP, but Lajoie's .324 OBP may come as a shock to many. Lajoie still hit 37 doubles and is ranked third in total bases, but I had higher hopes for Nap.

A word of caution too. These compilations represent the pure average of the player of the course of 95 seasons. This is an incredible volume, and DMB automatically introduces random variability into their simulation. Case in point, take a look at these two stat lines:

.336 / .403 / .432, 24 2B, 12 3B, 93 RC

.249 / .318 / .298, 10 2B, 07 3B, 58 RC

If you haven't guessed, these are two lines for Eddie Collins, the first one from Sim #19 and the second from Sim #59.

Finally, we need to mention 1952 Jackie Robinson. A vogue mid round pick, Robinson performed poorly in these sims. His slash line of .239 / .324 / .271 is awful - he had just 9 extra base hits. I mention this specifically because my rankings have '52 as his best year, and the DC Chips had a lot of success with his '51 season in ATB XII. This is another reminder to treat these baselines as part of the puzzle, and not a definitive view on player performance.

01) 0.301 / 0.373 / 0.444 - 1924 Hornsby,Rogers

02) 0.282 / 0.348 / 0.400 - 1884 Dunlap,Fred

03) 0.242 / 0.348 / 0.384 - 1976 Morgan,Joe

04) 0.293 / 0.365 / 0.346 - 1914 Collins,Eddie

05) 0.291 / 0.324 / 0.394 - 1904 Lajoie,Nap

06) 0.260 / 0.332 / 0.323 - 1934 Gehringer,Charlie

07) 0.273 / 0.317 / 0.342 - 1886 Richardson,Hardy

08) 0.249 / 0.325 / 0.318 - 1890 Childs,Cupid

09) 0.252 / 0.328 / 0.304 - 2001 Alomar,Roberto

10) 0.237 / 0.301 / 0.328 - 2000 Kent,Jeff

11) 0.254 / 0.338 / 0.284 - 1908 Evers,Johnny

12) 0.255 / 0.309 / 0.321 - 1942 Gordon,Joe

13) 0.239 / 0.324 / 0.271 - 1952 Robinson,Jackie

14) 0.239 / 0.338 / 0.256 - 1950 Stanky,Eddie

15) 0.220 / 0.275 / 0.315 - 1944 Doerr,Bobby

100 Sim Season Results - First Base

These are the results of 100 baseline resims (ended up being 95 seasons due to a silly mistake on my part, though I will continue to call it the 100 sim baseline). Each season was run in neutral parks. Injuries were turned on, each team had a strict 5 man rotation, and the schedule was set for 154 games. To date, we've completed the catcher review. Here is a link to the full detail by position.

At first base, and at no surprise, Lou Gehrig stands out as one of the truly elite batters in ATB. In the re-sims he averaged 37 HR and 34 doubles while maintaining a stellar slash line of .297 / .375 / .584 with a .959 OPS. His OPS is 120 points better than the next best first basemen, and he's one of only four players in the entire game to average an OPS of .850 or better.

Behind Gehrig are 5 very good options, each with OPS scores over .800. Somewhat surprisingly, this list does not include 1969 Willie McCovey or 2008 Albert Pujols. Even more shocking, is that 1961 Norm Cash heads the list among tier 2 players. His slash line averaged .297 / .388 / .451.

1932 Jimmie Foxx and 1998 Mark McGwire are low OBP high power options, belting 39 and 43 respectively. Dan Brouthers is a cheap option and underrated - .302 / .376 / .435 with 24 stolen bases.

The top 15 work out in the following manner:

01) 0.297 / 0.375 / 0.584 - 1927 Gehrig,Lou

02) 0.297 / 0.388 / 0.451 - 1961 Cash,Norm

03) 0.256 / 0.340 / 0.475 - 1932 Foxx,Jimmie

04) 0.206 / 0.341 / 0.462 - 1998 McGwire,Mark

05) 0.302 / 0.376 / 0.435 - 1886 Brouthers,Dan

06) 0.276 / 0.327 / 0.488 - 1994 Bagwell,Jeff

07) 0.256 / 0.327 / 0.460 - 1969 McCovey,Willie

08) 0.269 / 0.344 / 0.409 - 2008 Pujols,Albert

09) 0.303 / 0.352 / 0.395 - 1938 Leonard,Buck

10) 0.282 / 0.354 / 0.380 - 1993 Olerud,John

11) 0.269 / 0.328 / 0.417 - 1932 Terry,Bill

12) 0.286 / 0.324 / 0.400 - 1920 Sisler,George

13) 0.299 / 0.346 / 0.360 - 1974 Carew,Rod

14) 0.299 / 0.344 / 0.366 - 1977 Carew,Rod

15) 0.245 / 0.309 / 0.367 - 1885 Orr,Dave

100 Sim Season Results - The Catchers

For good or for ill, the 100 Sims have been run. It wasn't easy.

Recently Diamond Mind upgraded to Version 10 which caused many of the 3rd party add on software packages to stop working due to compatability issues. A staple ATB is our 20 resim process that closes the season and the 3rd party software I use ran into this compatability problem. Of course, the 100 Sim baseline while not nearly as critical to our enjoyment, was quickly falling by the wayside.

However, because the DMB community is simply wonderful to work with, I contacted the software developer, David Pyke, in the hopes of some good news. He came through and kindly passed a long a beta version of his auto-simulation software and it worked wonderfully. Thank goodness.

Given we are in the off-season and in no real rush, I thought it might be interesting to spend a little time on the resims, analyzing the results instead of posting an all-in-one data dump. We'll go position by position for the next few weeks.

Remember, this is a 100 baseline resim (ended up being 96 seasons due to a silly mistake on my part, though I will continue to call it the 100 sim baseline) in completely neutral parks. Injuries were turned on, each team had a strict 5 man rotation, and the schedule was set for 154 games.

First up are the catchers

There are three viable candidates for best catcher in ATB - King Kelly 1886, Josh Gibson 1938, and somewhat surprisingly Bill Dickey 1936.

The first two are routinely the top two catchers taken in each draft. Kelly is the best pure hitter with an average of .310 and on-base percentage of .399. No other catcher even approaches these numbers, especially the OBP, which gives him an overall edge in OPS and TOPS. (TOPS is Total OPS, which weights OBP by a factor of 1.4).

However, he hits only 2 home runs per season and for owners looking for pop, Josh Gibson might be the better option. He averaged 24 bombs a season and slugged .452. The main drawback is fairly large though, his .316 OBP is only slightly above average for the position (.308).

Perhaps the lower cost alternative going forward is Bill Dickey. He offers a blend of Kelly and Gibson, batting .286 / .332 / .430 with 13 HR and an OPS of .762.


Elsewhere of note, five other catchers offer double digit home runs

• 15 - Mike Piazza 1997
• 14 - Johnny Bench 1972
  
• 13 - Roy Campanella 1951
• 12 - Javy Lopez 2003
• 10 - Chris Hoiles 1993

And three others have OBP's above .325

• .366 - Mickey Cochrane
• .333 - Joe Mauer
  
• .328 - Mike Piazza
  

Through a crude formula, here's the Top 15. Please remember these are just the best of the starters in the 100 resims. Other players may end up being better, they just weren't included in my personal original analysis of which player seasons to chose from.

01) 0.310 / 0.399 / 0.380 - 1886 Kelly,King
02) 0.286 / 0.332 / 0.430 - 1936 Dickey,Bill
03) 0.266 / 0.316 / 0.452 - 1938 Gibson,Josh
04) 0.257 / 0.366 / 0.353 - 1933 Cochrane,Mickey
05) 0.279 / 0.328 / 0.404 - 1997 Piazza,Mike
06) 0.277 / 0.333 / 0.337 - 2009 Mauer,Joe
07) 0.248 / 0.277 / 0.447 - 2003 Lopez,Javy
08) 0.257 / 0.295 / 0.383 - 1951 Campanella,Roy
09) 0.279 / 0.302 / 0.363 - 1961 Howard,Elston
10) 0.225 / 0.306 / 0.347 - 1993 Hoiles,Chris
11) 0.248 / 0.292 / 0.344 - 1935 Hartnett,Gabby
12) 0.205 / 0.271 / 0.348 - 1972 Bench,Johnny
13) 0.254 / 0.320 / 0.315 - 2007 Posada,Jorge
14) 0.227 / 0.304 / 0.330 - 1914 Wilson,Art
15) 0.205 / 0.288 / 0.342 - 1992 Daulton,Darren

100 Baseline Resims - The Relievers

The Relievers
2.3 - RP 1 - Cla Meredith-2006
2.3 - RP 1 - Rob Murphy-1986
2.2 - RP 1 - Dennys Reyes-2006
2.1 - RP 1 - Rafael Betancourt-2007
2.1 - RP 1 - Bill Henry-1964
2.0 - RP 1 - Rafael Soriano-2003
1.9 - RP 1 - Chris Hammond-2002
1.9 - RP 1 - Troy Percival-1995
1.9 - RP 1 - Grant Balfour-2008
1.8 - RP 1 - Dale Murray-1974
1.8 - RP 1 - Jeff Zimmerman-1999
1.8 - RP 1 - Gabe White-2000
1.8 - RP 1 - Ray Narleski-1956
1.8 - RP 1 - Keith Foulke-1999
1.8 - RP 1 - Nick Maddox-1907

1.8 - RP 2 - Arthur Rhodes-2001
1.8 - RP 2 - Octavio Dotel-2002
1.7 - RP 2 - Brad Ziegler-2008
1.7 - RP 2 - Carlos Marmol-2007
1.7 - RP 2 - Calvin Schiraldi-1986
1.7 - RP 2 - Buddy Groom-2002
1.7 - RP 2 - Steve Reed-1995
1.7 - RP 2 - Rafael Perez-2007
1.7 - RP 2 - Jeff Gray-1991
1.7 - RP 2 - Mark Eichhorn-1986
1.7 - RP 2 - Damaso Marte-2003
1.7 - RP 2 - Roberto Hernandez-1992
1.7 - RP 2 - Tom Gordon-2004
1.7 - RP 2 - Ferdie Schupp-1916
1.7 - RP 2 - Francisco Rodriguez-2004

1.7 - RP 3 - Ted Abernathy-1967
1.7 - RP 3 - Terry Fox-1961
1.6 - RP 3 - Steve Mingori-1971
1.6 - RP 3 - Elias Sosa-1977
1.6 - RP 3 - Tom Henke-1991
1.6 - RP 3 - Rheal Cormier-2003
1.6 - RP 3 - Joey Eischen-2002
1.6 - RP 3 - Rob Dibble-1990
1.6 - RP 3 - Brendan Donnelly-2003
1.6 - RP 3 - Al Grabowski-1929
1.6 - RP 3 - Derek Lilliquist-1992
1.4 - RP 3 - Joe Neale-1890
1.6 - RP 3 - Dick Hall-1964
1.5 - RP 3 - Jim Poole-1993
1.6 - RP 3 - Taylor Buchholz-2008

100 Baseline Resims - The Closers

Closers
3.0 - CL 1 - Dennis Eckersley-1990
2.5 - CL 1 - Jonathan Papelbon-2006
2.3 - CL 1 - Mariano Rivera-2008
2.3 - CL 1 - Eric Gagne-2003
2.2 - CL 1 - J.J. Putz-2007
2.2 - CL 1 - Takashi Saito-2007
2.1 - CL 1 - Billy Wagner-1999
2.1 - CL 1 - John Smoltz-2003
2.0 - CL 1 - Bruce Sutter-1977
2.0 - CL 1 - Joe Nathan-2006
2.0 - CL 1 - B.J. Ryan-2006
2.0 - CL 1 - Jose Mesa-1995
2.0 - CL 1 - Armando Benitez-2004
1.9 - CL 1 - Tim Burke-1987
1.9 - CL 1 - Robb Nen-2000

1.9 - CL 2 - Mike Jackson-1998
1.9 - CL 2 - Rollie Fingers-1981
1.8 - CL 2 - Bryan Harvey-1993
1.8 - CL 2 - Joakim Soria-2008
1.8 - CL 2 - Trevor Hoffman-1998
1.8 - CL 2 - Ugueth Urbina-1998
1.8 - CL 2 - John Wetteland-1993
1.8 - CL 2 - Doug Jones-1997
1.8 - CL 2 - Andrew Bailey-2009
1.8 - CL 2 - Jim Brewer-1972
1.7 - CL 2 - Brad Lidge-2004
1.7 - CL 2 - John Hiller-1973
1.7 - CL 2 - Jeff Montgomery-1989
1.7 - CL 2 - Tug McGraw-1980
1.7 - CL 2 - Rich Gossage-1977

100 Baseline Resims - The Starting Pitchers

Starting Pitchers
2.2 - SP 1 - Pedro Martinez-2000
1.9 - SP 1 - Greg Maddux-1995
1.8 - SP 1 - Walter Johnson-1913
1.7 - SP 1 - Dutch Leonard-1914
1.6 - SP 1 - Bob Gibson-1968
1.6 - SP 1 - Randy Johnson-2004
1.6 - SP 1 - Johan Santana-2004
1.6 - SP 1 - Christy Mathewson-1909
1.6 - SP 1 - Pete Alexander-1915
1.6 - SP 1 - Roger Clemens-1997
1.6 - SP 1 - Cy Young-1901
1.6 - SP 1 - Ron Guidry-1978
1.6 - SP 1 - Lefty Grove-1931
1.6 - SP 1 - Dwight Gooden-1985
1.6 - SP 1 - Kevin Brown-1996

1.6 - SP 2 - Mordecai Brown-1906
1.5 - SP 2 - Ed Walsh-1910
1.5 - SP 2 - Dazzy Vance-1924
1.5 - SP 2 - Rube Waddell-1902
1.5 - SP 2 - Juan Marichal-1966
1.5 - SP 2 - Jason Schmidt-2003
1.5 - SP 2 - Addie Joss-1908
1.5 - SP 2 - Satchel Paige-1931
1.5 - SP 2 - Tom Seaver-1971
1.5 - SP 2 - Monty Stratton-1937
1.5 - SP 2 - Silver King-1888
1.5 - SP 2 - Hal Newhouser-1946
1.5 - SP 2 - Mort Cooper-1942
1.5 - SP 2 - Bret Saberhagen-1989
1.5 - SP 2 - Luis Tiant-1968

1.5 - SP 3 - Mike Scott-1986
1.5 - SP 3 - Curt Schilling-2002
1.5 - SP 3 - Harry Brecheen-1948
1.5 - SP 3 - Vida Blue-1971
1.5 - SP 3 - Kevin Millwood-1999
1.5 - SP 3 - Charley Radbourn-1884
1.5 - SP 3 - Lefty Gomez-1937
1.5 - SP 3 - Rich Harden-2008
1.5 - SP 3 - Zack Greinke-2009
1.5 - SP 3 - Carl Hubbell-1933
1.5 - SP 3 - John Tudor-1985
1.5 - SP 3 - Ed Reulbach-1905
1.5 - SP 3 - Ben Sheets-2004
1.5 - SP 3 - Spud Chandler-1943
1.5 - SP 3 - Charlie Sweeney-1884

1.5 - SP 4 - Derek Lowe-2002
1.5 - SP 4 - Billy Pierce-1955
1.4 - SP 4 - Ted Lyons-1939
1.4 - SP 4 - David Cone-1994
1.4 - SP 4 - Joe Wood-1912
1.4 - SP 4 - Garland Braxton-1928
1.4 - SP 4 - Steve Carlton-1972
1.4 - SP 4 - Joe Horlen-1964
1.4 - SP 4 - Russ Ford-1910
1.4 - SP 4 - Dolf Luque-1923
1.4 - SP 4 - Kid Nichols-1898
1.4 - SP 4 - Warren Hacker-1952
1.4 - SP 4 - Bill Bernhard-1902
1.4 - SP 4 - Chris Carpenter-2009
1.4 - SP 4 - Eddie Cicotte-1917

1.4 - SP 5 - Tim Lincecum-2009
1.4 - SP 5 - Lady Baldwin-1885
1.3 - SP 5 - Al Orth-1901
1.3 - SP 5 - Johnny Podres-1957
1.3 - SP 5 - Jack Chesbro-1904
1.3 - SP 5 - Ben Sanders-1888
1.2 - SP 5 - Cannonball Titcomb-1888
1.3 - SP 5 - Tex Hughson-1946
1.4 - SP 5 - Babe Adams-1919
1.3 - SP 5 - Dizzy Dean-1934
1.2 - SP 5 - Pete Conway-1888
1.3 - SP 5 - Jesse Tannehill-1902
1.4 - SP 5 - Scott Stratton-1890
1.4 - SP 5 - Andy Pettitte-2005
1.3 - SP 5 - Noodles Hahn-1904

Updated Playing Time Rules - Pitchers

We've already seen the following changes to batter eligibility

1) For teams with less than 100 games in a season, a player from that team is only eligible if he has appeared in 95% of his teams games. For teams with more than 100 games, a player is only eligible if he has appeared in 85% of his teams games.

2) Catchers need only have 370 Plate Appearances, instead of the 450 currently required.

For pitchers we'll have a simpler go at it.

Today, any starter with 20 games is eligible to start. There is no need to change this rule, which leaves us with relievers with fewer than 50 IP to discuss. When teams had fewer than 100 games played, or fewer than 154 games played or that matter, relievers weren't widely used. And when they were, it was often at long clips at a time easily pushing them over the 50 IP mark on a season.

This leaves us a with a problem for only the strike shortened seasons. Scanning through the data, it seems a natural cutoff is 30% of games played. Our new pitcher rule

If a pitcher has less than 50 IP, he is eligible only if he has appeared in 30% of his teams games. to avoid a handful of quirks, they also must have at least 30 IP. Hello 1981 Goose Gossage.

To avoid similar quirks with batters, we'll amend that rule for a minimum AB clause. Some teams played 6 games in a season, and even if a batter appeared in all 6 games, we don't want him in the league.

The new rule is that the team must have had at least 70 games on the schedule for their players to be eligible. This is true for batters and pitchers.

These rules are complicated of course. But have no fear, all eligible batters and pitchers will be listed in the standard excel files. You won't have to "do the math" in order to figure out who's eligible, I'll do that for you. However, you need to know the rules in case you want to challenge my own math somehwere along the way.