Quote:
Originally Posted by David Watts
2 more days left in August 1961 and Alexandria is looking like the team to beat. Question is, will 1961 prove to be the year the Aces can finally win a championship. They have been to the post season 8 times, more than any other Southern League team, but have yet to win a title. Alexandria signed Hank Aaron away from Biloxi prior to the 61 season and he having another MVP like season. Hank has a triple crown in his sights. .356, 46 home runs and 131 RBI. Here's hoping he stays healthy to the end this season. Something he hasn't been able to do too many times in his short but productive career. Cool thing is Hank is hitting 3rd in the order, directly in front of Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio is having a monster season as well, with 42 bombs and 100+ RBI. On the mound the Aces have Corey Kluber. Kluber is going to be in the Cy Young discussion, just not sure if he will be able to beat out Lake Charles's Larry French or Justin Verlander of Biloxi. There's one month left for all three to prove their worthiness.
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Good to hear Hank is starting to play more complete seasons. Aaron and DiMaggio back-to-back in the same lineup? Whoa!
Kluber is the only one from here that I have experience with in this dynasty. He had a shorter (14 years), but spectacular career, and wound up in my HoF with a 204-159 record and a 3.21 ERA (126 ERA+), and a 3.25 FIP (84 FIP-), and 2,394 K against just 769 BB. He posted above average scores in JAWS (55.1, avg HoFer: 54), Black Ink (49, avg HoFer: 35), Gray Ink (227, avg HoFer: 203), HoF Standards (39, avg HoFer: 36), and HoF Monitor (171, avg HoFer: 137).
His career didn't really kick into high gear until he was 27, and his final great season was his age 35 season. He posted just about 60 pitching WAR (59.4) in those nine seasons, and added on about 10 more in his other five seasons to give him a total of 70.4 WAR for a 14 year career.
He won two Cy Young Awards (1945 and 1948), went to eight All-Star games, won a championship (1941 Phillies), and was the 1944 NLCS MVP. He was a top ten MVP candidate 8 times, and a top five CYA candidate 8 times (2 awards, 2 runner ups, and 4 3rd place finishes). Not a ton of volume to his career, but what a peak!