Quote:
Originally Posted by Pelican
So, how are you going to handle Lou Gehrig, going forward? We know he started to decline in 1938, and by 1939 was in the throes of ALS, despite being the self-declared “luckiest man”. In my 1938 sim I have turned off career ends and reduced his injury numbers, so that he can play through to a natural career end, probably in 1940 or 1941. Before contracting the fatal disease, he was always healthy and consisten, so I wonder how long he would have played. Surely, three or four more full years is not out of the question. Maybe, like Cal Ripken, he would have voluntarily sat for a day at some point, and then kept playing. What is fascinating is that he would have reached age forty about the time younger players were being drafted or volunteering for the War. Lou would have been too old to fight, and could have continued on a war-depleted roster. I suspect we will find that he would have become the career leader in just about every hitting category.
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I'm just letting the 5-year recalc play out, as is the case with all players in this save. He's just about to hit the ratings wall but the spread should give him maybe two years with little discernible drop then he'll start skidding pretty fast because of course IRL there was no decline for him, just the end. My tip is he makes it to 600 HR but not much past. I hope he retires fairly quickly so as to not erode his averages too much. Ruth should go at the end of this season I'd think, and has barely played in '36 or '37, which closely replicates his IRL retirement in early '35.