Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

My 1969 Seattle team goes all in for this season Wombat’s Washington team hardest hit

Posted: February 5, 2022 by datechguy in baseball, Dynasty, gaming
Tags: , ,

I haven’t written much about the various online baseball leagues I’m in lately but there has been a twist that I thought was interesting enough to put on the blog.

I had not made a single trade this season and held all my draft picks for next year. I also had one roster spot open in case there was a key injury that required me to make a claim off of waivers.

Yesterday the Cincinnati Reds in our league announced they will looking to trade first baseman Dick Allen. HIs current stat line was as follows:

in 86 games with the @Reds Allen batted .251 with 24 HR & 60 RBI with an OBP of .326 & slugging at .846 He was fielding at .987 with 11 Errors in 879 chances.

PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIBBKSBCSAvgOBPSLGOPS
Dick Allen86335488418024603811910.251.326.519.846

Allen was 3rd in the NL in homers (7th in the majors) 7th in RBI’s in the NL and 5th in slugging more importantly he was hitting .310 with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Cincinnati was asking for a 1st & 2nd round draft pick for Allen but claimed a willingness to entertain offers.

To clarify what that means at the end of the season each team is able to retain the rights to 4-12 players from their current roster plus any new rookies debuting in the next season (1970). The rest are re-drafted. So the world series winner keeps 4 players, the runner up 5 and the two worst teams in the majors 12. So in addition to rookies who are just coming up.

In other words the first 134 players in the majors are accounted for and you have to build your team on the rest

So this would mean if I paid cincy’s price and won the world series. I would retain four players (presumably Allen among them) and my first pick for next year would be the 48th overall. So the questions were:

  1. Is Dick Allen be a big enough upgrade to warrant a deal
  2. Could the price be made more manageable?

Now my current first baseman Mike Fiore is currently 6th in the AL in batting .297, 2nd in OBP .441 9th in OBP+ Slugging (.892) 4th in Runs (69), 4th in hits (102) and leads the league in walks with 88, and has incredible range (A) vs Allen (C+). This would suggest that Allen would not be a sufficent upgrade but it turns out Fiore also played the outfield in 1969 albeit at a below avg level. To get him into left I would have to move Pete Rose to 2B permanently so the person to compare Allen to wasn’t Fiore but Dick McAuliffe who would be benched in his favor. here is how their current stats compare:

PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIBBKSBCSAvgOBPSLGOPS
Dick Allen86335488418024603811910.251.326.519.846
Dick McAuliffe77215325693838343400.260.356.442.798

As you can see a marginal drop in avg and OBP is offset by a huge increase in slugging. Allen’s addition to the lineup in the cleanup stop also means that Pete Rose would be less likely to be given an intentional walk as the next batter would be Allen rather than Ed Kirkpatrick who while having virtually the same OBP as Allen (.325) has much less pop (.238 6 HR 41 RBI).

Additionally Allen continued to have great years through 1975 while Fiore was a one year wonder who would fade after this season

In short Allen would be a big offensive upgrade and worth getting. Bill James rated him as the 15th best first baseman of all time in his 2001 Baseball Abstract but noting one big downside describing Allen as:

The second most controversial player in baseball history, behind Rogers Hornsby. Allen had baseball talent equal to that of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, or Joe DiMaggio, and did have three or four seasons when he was as good a player as anyone in baseball, but lost half of his career or more to immaturity and emotional instability.

In short Allen has a bad effect in the clubhouse (An F rating-30 pts teams with a 45 or above have a positive clubhouse below 0 negative 0-30 avg ) Allen would reduce my clubhouse to avgerage from positive so to counter this effect I would need to bring up veteran Dick Tracewski (.214 0 HR 0 RBI) and sending down switch hitting backup Dick Schofield (.227 0 HR 4 RBI) but that was a small price to pay.

The 2nd question was could I pay the price of not picking till #48?

That took some negotiation and in the end the deal was as follows:

I gave up my 1st, 3rd and 5th round picks (if I won the series picks 16, 48 & 70 presuming no expansion)

Cincy threw in their 4th round pick (currently pick 57)

So while I would lose pick 16 & 48 if I won it all I would be moving up 13 spots on trading pick 70 for 57.

So the deal was made. In four games here is Allen’s line so far

PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIBBKSBCSAvgOBPSLGOPS
Dick Allen4171501022400.294.368.412.780

Both of those walks were intentional while his power numbers are down his OB is up and I’m sure once he gets a few games in the HR friendly Sick Stadium his slugging will go through the roof.

More importantly Pete Rose batted in two spots where he would normally have been walked and drove in runs both times.

It remains to be seen if this will put me over the top but if nothing else it means that my next Opponent the Washington Senators will not issue Pete Rose seven intentional walks as he did before.

Wish me luck

Hall of Fame Talk Who belongs in

Posted: January 27, 2022 by datechguy in baseball, Sports
Tags: ,

If you want to know why baseball, the most perfect sport there is continues to die a slow death consider this fact concerning Baseball’s Hall of Fame

Baseball’s all time leaders in

  • Games
  • Plate Appearances
  • At Bats
  • Hits
  • Home Runs
  • Walks
  • Intentional Walks

Are either by vote or by exclusion not in the Hall of Fame.

Furthermore one of the most successful pitchers in the game both in the regular season and the post season is excluded because he does not support the political party favored by baseball writers, even though he was the center of one of the most heroic moments in the history of the game.

My own HOF standard is simple there are two ways to judge it.

  1. If someone says to you “Is ‘x’ good enough for the Hall of Fame and you have to think about it, then they are not.
  2. If you are afraid if this player that you don’t want coming up against you to bat or pitch with the game on the line then he is a Hall of Famer.

All that being under rules 1 & 2 Ortiz belongs in the hall, but so does Clemens, Bonds and Schilling hands down,

As for the vets committee. Under rule 1 Minoso belongs in, Under rule 2 Oliva belongs in and I have no beef with O’Neil or Hodges who I never saw play or Kaat who while not a great pitcher was a very good pitcher for two decades so you might add a sustained quality exception in that he while never the best was quality long beyond the norm.

FYI concerning Rose. I think Pete Rose is one of the best players who ever played the game. In my 1969 league he was my #1 pick. He played harder and worked harder than anyone in the game. He’s exactly the type of guy you want in your clubhouse or to build a team around. It’s no coincidence that a loaded Phillies team didn’t win their 1st world series until he as a 38 year old 16+ year vet showed up. I loved watching him play and if you put me in room with him I could listen to him talk baseball for hours.

All that being said if this was Harold Baines or Mike Greenwell nobody would question his being banned from the game. For 30 year he walked into ballparks past signs that said in effect:

Bet on baseball and you’ll be banned

And he did it anyways. I don’t think for one moment that he ever threw a game or bet against himself but that doesn’t enter into it. He’s guilty as sin and didn’t take the outs that were offered to him because I frankly think he was too competitive to do so. He looked on it as a game to win rather than an offer of mercy. That’s one him

With sports gambling now legal if MLB wants to reverse this sometime before he dies I don’t have an issue with it but he bet on baseball and while I think the ban is sad and might even be counterproductive at this point. It is just.

My thought: last year was the 175th anniversary of the 1st professional baseball game. I think in honor of that and whatever settlement baseball reaches to avoid a lockout a general amnesty should be declared for all players at any level for offenses against the game.

That would allow us to celebrate the game we loved and enjoyed.

NFL Covid, DTG’s Plan, Pats streak ends, Brady Does Jones a favor and Baseball’s Stupidity Under the Fedora

Posted: December 23, 2021 by datechguy in baseball, nfl, Sports

The Woke NFL’s new policy on COVID whereby players aren’t constantly tested unless they are showing symptoms is a bow to reality and to the narrative.

The NFL embraced the whole Biden Admin you MUST get the vac business but the sight of games cancelled because of fully vaxed players still coming down with COVID is not only a danger to the bottom line and to player relations but it looks really bad for the Vax Nazis when fully vaxed players with little or no symptoms are missing games while at the same time trying to push said vax on the working public.

Of course the players who will not be tested can still catch the virus, carry the virus and even pass it on, but as long as they do so without causing a game to be delayed or cancelled it’s OK with the league.

The obvious question is: Do I have a better plan? Given what we’ve seen and know, yes.

Drop all testing. If a player is sick he doesn’t play. If he is not he does.

No charge

The Patriots winning streak ended in Indy as all winning streaks eventually do. the QB Mac Jones was rather subdued about it as several rookie mistakes on his part (combined with some horrible undisciplined penalties) cost them what was a very winnible game.

How he comes back from this next week vs Buffalo will say a lot about his future but with three weak opponents out of the final four games it’s pretty safe to say that Jones will be starting at least one playoff game as a rookie.

The other question is will the people who’ve been lionizing him for a month now jump off the bandwagon? I suspect that will depend on Buffalo.

Ironically one of the best things to give Jones perspective was Tom Brady’s and the Tampa Bay Bucs humiliating 9-0 shutout by the Saints.

“Just a tough night,” Brady said after the first home shutout of his 23-year career and first anywhere since a 21-0 loss at Miami on December 10, 2006, when Nick Saban was still coaching the Dolphins.

No current member of the Saints was in the NFL at the time. Defensive end Cam Jordan, who had two of the four sacks of Brady, was in high school in Chandler, Arizona.

Brady was clearly losing his temper on the sidelines but to me that’s a good thing. Great players expect a lot from themselves and if they fail to deliver as spectacularly as Tom did last week they should be angry.

But Mac Jones can get perspective here. If the best of all time can have a game like this during an MVP caliber season then he sure can have a bad game took.

BTW Watch for the media to go full on “Brady is finished” narrative to start up again.

The Baseball lockout is a great example of insanity.

You have a sport whose fanbase like me is aging and is in declining popularity. A sport that needs a spark and what do you get? Players making 6-10 figures arguing with owners making even more. This type of incompetence give the Biden Administration a run for its money.

The proof that baseball is the worlds most perfect sport is that it manages to survive time and again the regular idiocy of those in charge of it.

Dynasty Leagues updates, some leagues finish, some leagues start

Posted: November 7, 2021 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, fun, gaming, online gaming, Sable Baseball, Sports
Tags: , ,

Here is the current state of the table top baseball leagues I run.

Since our last update more teams have been taken in online leagues.

League one All Futility League has finished it’s latest season. Here were the final results

Teams AL Division AWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1970 Milwaukee Brewers9270.568—–NoN/A
1970 Chicago White Sox8874.5434No—-
2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays7785.47515YesE
2003 Detroit Tigers59103.36433NoE
Teams AL Division BWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1970 Kansas City Royals9765.599_____Yesn/a
2012 Minnesota Twins9468.5803No+6
2008 Seattle Mariners8280.50615Yese
1973 Texas Rangers7191.43826Yese
Teams AL Division CWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2009 Cleveland Indians8280.506—–Non/a
1967 Kansas City A’s7884.4814Noe
1957 Washington Senators7389.4519Noe
2019 Baltimore Orioles6681.4496Noe

AL Leaders: Hitting:

Avg Mauer Min .347, OBP, Mauer Min .457, Slug Huff TB .600 Runs Harper .Mil 143, Hits: Harper Mil 224, 2B Ibanez Sea, 50, 3B Crowe Cle 15, SB Revere Min 83, BB Mauer Min 119 HR Sievers Wash 46, RBI Harper Mil 139

Pitching: Wins Hernandez Sea, Johnson KCR 21, ERA Hyde Wash 2.88, IP Hernandez Sea 250 1/3, K’s Hernandez Sea 223, Avg against Sosa TB .202 WHIP Krause KCA 1.05 HR/9 Hyde Wash 0.30 Saves Yan TB Perkins Min 29,

AL Playoff results:

  • Wild Card game 2012 Min over 1970 White Sox
  • Div Series 2009 Indians over 1970 Brewers 4 games to 3
  • Div Series 1970 Royals over 2012 Twins 4 games to 2
  • League Championship series 1970 Royals over 2009 Indians 4 games to 1
Teams NL Division AWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1998 Montreal Expos9963.611—–YesN/A
2009 Washington Nationals9369.5746Yes+ 3
2001 Pittsburgh Pirates 8577.52514YesE
1998 Florida Marlins7191.43828YesE
Teams NL Division BWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2000 Philadelphia Phillies8379.512—–YesN/A
2012 Houston Astros7389.45110YesE
2017 San Francisco Giants7389.45110NoE
2015 Atlanta Braves6993.42614NoE
Teams NL Division CWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1982 Cincinnati Reds9171.562_____Non/a
1993 New York Mets9072.5561 No—–
1974 Chicago Cubs8082.49411NoE
1993 San Diego Padres7191.43820NoE

NL Leaders Hitting:

AVG Gwynn SD .372, OBP Giles Pit .449 Slug Giles Pit .618, Runs Giles Pitt 142, Hits Gwynn SD 244 2B Gwynn SD 73, 3B Coleman Mets, Guerrero Mon 19, SB Morgan Wash 62, BB Walsh Wash 141, HR Murray Mets 41, RBI Ramirez Pit , Dunn Wash 136

Pitching Wins Hermanson Mon 29, ERA Hermanson Mon 1.82, IP Soto Cin 285 1/3, K’s Soto Cin 347, Avg against Soto Cin .196 WHIP Hermanson Mon 1.00 HR/9 Berenyi Cin, Anderson Pit 0.33, Saves Urbina Mon 35.

NL Playoff results

  • Wild card 2009 Nationals over 1993 Mets
  • Division Series 1982 Reds over 2000 Phillies 4 games to 2
  • Division Series 2009 Nationals over 1998 Expos 4 games to 3
  • League Championship series 2009 Nats over 1982 Reds 4 games to 1

World Series

2009 Nationals over 1970 Royals 4 games to 3

The SD Jones memorial .500 teams league is a league (all teams were no better than 2 games over .500 or no worse than 2 games under) Initial season . Games are scheduled for Tuesdays. AM Only 2 series are left to play in the entire league

Teams AL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1993 Boston9963.611—–Non/a
1957 Baltimore8379.51216Yes+3
1973 New York (A)8082.49419Yes—
1967 Washington7785.47522YesE
Teams AL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2010 Detroit9861.616—–Non/a
1975 Cleveland6990.43429NoE
1973 Minnesota6891.42830NoE
1998 Chicago (A)6198.38437NoE
Teams AL WestWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2010 Oakland9165.599—-Yesn/a
2017 Kansas City8082.49411No_______
2018 Los Angeles (A)8082.49411Yes_______
2005 Toronto5862.48313Yes1

AL Leaders Batting

Avg Carew Min .356, OBP Trout LAA .432, SLUG Trout LAA .616, Runs Trout LAA 138, Hits Carew Min 235, 2B Cabrera Det 55, 3B Durham ChW, 20, SB Carew Min 65 BB Trout LAA 119 HR Trout LAA, Howard Wash Cabrera Det 45, RBI Cabrera Det 148

Pitching

Wins Verlander Det 24, ERA Clemens Bos 2.31, IP Blyleven Minn 313, K’s Blyleven Min 297 , Avg against Cahill Oak .204, WHIP Darwin Bos 0.97, HR/9 Bibby Cle 0.30, Saves Knowles Wash Lyle NYY 33

Teams NL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2018 Washington9765.599________Non/a
1967 Pittsburgh9171.5626No+8
1957 Philadelphia7884.48119YesE
1975 New York (N)6795.41430YesE

Division winner skips wild card

Teams NL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1996 Cincinnati8379.512_____No—–
2000 Colorado8379.512—–Yes____
1975 St. Louis8181.5002YesE
1973 Houston6795.41430YesE
Teams NL WestWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1975 San Francisco9864.605—–Yesn/a
2012 Arizona8280.50616YesE
2007 Los Angeles (N)7191.43827YesE
1982 San Diego6795.41431YesE

NL Leaders Batting

AVG Clemente Pit .362, OBP Mitchell Cin .439, Slug Helton Col .614 Runs Larkin Cin 134, Hits Clemente Pit 234, 2B Cirillo Col 67, 3B Clemente Pit 23, SB Pierre LAD 82 BB Ashburn Phil 122, HR Helton Col 37, RBI Helton Col 141

Pitching Wins Scherzer Wash 23 ERA Scherzer Wash 2.38, IP Scherzer Wash 302, K’s Scherzer Wash 367, Avg Against Scherzer Wash .208, WHIP Scherzer Wash 0.95, HR/9 Reed StL 0.28 , Saves Face Pitt 37

3rd League All time any time Great Teams League (3rd season) Games scheduled Friday evenings. Two teams have been picked up since the last posting (oddly not the Orioles)

Teams AL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1970 Baltimore7947.627—–Yesn/a
1961 Yankees7056.5569No+ 1/2
1993 Toronto7158.5509 1/2No—–
1999 Boston5673.43424 1/2No15
Teams AL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2010 Texas7254.552—–Yesn/a
1954 Cleveland6165.48411No8 1/2
2006 Detroit6066.47612Yes9 1/2
1974 Oakland5079.38823 1/2Yes21
Teams AL OtherWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2009 New York (A)7158.550____Non/a
1977 Kansas City6264.4927 1/2No7 1/2
1924 Washington5673.43415No15
1967 Minnesota5277.40319Yes19

AL Leaders Batting

Avg Hamilton Tex .359 , OBP Mantle 61NYY .447, Slug Hamilton Tex .658, Runs Jeter NYY09 111, Hits Jeter NYY09 194, 2B Olerud Tor 41, Triples Taylor Wash 21, SB Henderson Tor 71, BB Killebrew Min 102, HR Maris NYY61 42, RBI Blanchard NYY61 Hamilton Tex 113

Pitching Wins Sabathia NYY 19, ERA Martinez Bos 2.20, IP Johnson Wash 244 1/3, K’s Martinez Bos 331, Avg against Martinez Bos .198 WHIP Martinez Bos 0.88 HR/9 Martinez Bos C.J Wilson Tex Garcia Cle .045 Saves Ward Tor 33

Teams NL EastWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1975 Cincinnati7254.571—–NoN/A
1998 Atlanta6264.49210No_____
2019 Washington Nats6264.49210Yes_____
1955 Brooklyn6066.47612Yes 2
Teams NL CentralWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
1985 St. Louis7056.556_____Non/a
1957 Milwaukee6066.47610No2
2003 Cubs5967.46811Yes3
1971 Pittsburgh5868.46812Yes4
Teams NL OtherWLPCTGBAvailableWCGB
2016 Chicago (N)8838.698—-Non/a
2001 Arizona6165.48427Yes1
1977 Philadelphia5769.45231Yes5
2007 Colorado5274.41336Yes10

NL Leaders Batting

Avg McGee StL .365, OBP Morgan Cin .457, Slug Kendrick Wash .611, Runs Morgan Cin 114, Hits McGee Stl 186, 2B Rizzo Cubs16 40, 3B McGee StL 19, SB Morgan Cin 71, BB Morgan Cin 106, HR Ga;arraga Atl, Aaron Mil 37, RBI Foster 117

Pitching Wins Maddux Atl 18, ERA Tudor StL 1.75, IP Maddux Atl 231, K’s Johnson Arizona 295, Avg against Tudor StL .181, WHIP Tudor StL 0.82 HR/9 Buhl Mil 0.34, Saves Chapman Cubs16 32

If you are interested in taking over the management of any of the online leagues teams contact me in comments.

As a bonus here are the standings of our face to face draft league which first began playing in 1987 in Fitchburg Massachusetts. We have two divisions with 4 teams each playing a 60 game season every other Saturday at Zeda’s Pizza in Fitchburg MA. The individual leagues are named for deceased members of the league. Five teams make the playoffs, the best record gets home field throughout and 2nd best record of the division leaders gets a home series against the best non-division winner while the final two teams play a one game playin for the right to face the best division winner in the playoffs.

New players are always welcome

Lynn DivisionWLPCTGBWCGB
Tampa Bay Rays (x)4119.683—-n/a
San Francisco Giants(w)3525.5836Bye
St. Louis Cardinals(w)3228.5337Home
Colorado Rockies2436.400172
w clinched at least wildcard game x clinched playoff spot
Dan DivisionWLPCTGBWCGB
New York Yankees (XY)3921.650—-n/a
Washington Nationals2833.45911 1/2_____
Seattle Mariners2734.44212 1/2E
San Diego Padres1743.28322E

Playoff results

  • Wild card playin StL over Washington
  • Playoffs round 1 NYY over SF 4 games to 2
  • Tampa over Stl 4 games to 3

World Series Tampa over NYY 4 games to 3

The 1969 Draft league is a continual draft league in its first season (1969) All teams drafted full rosters (max 35) while being allowed to keep one player from the teams picked. In subsequent season (next year 1970) teams will retain rights to new rookies plus 4-12 currently held players based on their finish. There are no wildcards and 1969 rules are in play.

AL

EastWLPCTGB
Baltimore Orioles128.600—–
Cleveland Indians1111.5002
Washington Senators1010.5002
NY Highlanders (Yankees)913.4094
WestWLPCTGB
Minnesota Maul of America (Twins)139.591—–
Oakland A’s 139.591—–
Chicago White Sox913.4094
Seattle Pilots913.4094

AL Leaders

Avg Billy Williams balt .444, OBP Harmon Killebrew Cle .516, Slug Frank Howard Wash .768, Runs Jimmy Wynn Cle 19 , Hits Billy Williams Balt 36, 2B Dick Green Oak, Johnny Callison Wash 8, 3B Billy Williams Balt , Ron Fairly NYY, Johnny Callison Wash 4, BB Mike Fiore Sea 26, HR Frank Howard Wash 10 , RBI Harmon Killebrew Cle 27

Pitching Wins Andy Messersmith Balt 4, ERA Mel Stottlemyre Cle 1.83 , IP Larry Dieker NYY 41, K’s Sam McDowell Cle 49, Avg Against Jerry Koosman Oak .152, WHIP Jerry Koosman Oak 0.82, HR/9 , Wally Bunker Oak, Mike McCormick Sea 0.00 , Saves Tug McGraw Twins, Moe Drabowski Wash 6

NL

EastWLPCTGB
New York Metropolitans (Mets)178.680—–
Pittsburgh Pirates1210.5453 1/2
Montreal Nos Amours (Expos)812.4006 1/2
Atlanta Braves713.3507 1/2
WestWLPCTGB
Los Angeles Dodgers148.636—–
Cincinnati Cin City (Reds)139.5911
St. Louis Cardinals 1411.5601 1/2
San Francisco Seals (Giants)418.18210

Leaders NL

Avg Bobby Tolan Mets .376, OBP Rusty Staub Mon .485, Slug Reggie Smith LAD .761, Runs Reggie Smith LAD 21, Hits Bobby Tolan Mets 41, 2B Curt Flood StL 9, 3B Sal Bando Mets, Jerry Grote Pit, Tim McCarver mets, Bobby Murcer SF, Reggie Smith LAD, Doug Rader Pitt, Rich Reese Stl, Maury Wills Stl 2, BB Willie McCovery LAD 21 SB Cesar Tovar mets 7, HR Dick Allen Reds 8, RBI Bobby Tolan Mets Hank Aaron Atl 21

Pitching Wins Tom Seaver Mets 5, ERA Nelson Briles StL 1.50, IP Bob Gibson Mets 50 1/3, K’s Bob Gibson StL 46, Avg against Jim Palmer SF .170, WHIP Jim Palmer 0.84, HP/9 Dave McNalley SF 0.00 Saves Ron Taylor Mets 7

We Expect to expand by at least 2 teams next season

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