The One for All League

[luckymann]

Jim Rice enters the OFA fold with the Astros taking him 1st overall ahead of Juan Gonzalez and Justin Morneau.




A trio of familiar NeL names also join the league, and I'll be keeping tabs on Wade Johnston, Bill "Orville" Riggins and Joseph "Gentry" Jessup to see how they fare over oncoming seasons.

The LL for this year is Venezuelan-born infielder Carlos Gonzales, who briefly appeared in the 2006 DR Summer League as part of the Rangers organization before vanishing without a trace.

[luckymann]

Nothing specific on my watch list as season 1916 begins other than seeing how two legends of the game - Christy Mathewson and Don Drysdale - develop.

[luckymann]

I'll start posting these at the end of each season for players I've been following whose careers deem it worthy. I'll also start doing likewise for HoF Inductees.

Here are a couple who fall into this category from recent seasons:

[luckymann]

Tight races abound, with all three NL division winners getting home by just one game. The Rockies miss the NL WC2 slot by the same margin, while in the AL a tiebreaker is required to decide the final playoff entrant, with defending champs Cleveland scoring 4 in the 9th and one more in the 10th for a thrilling 6-5 win over Detroit. Their title defence ends at the first hurdle with a loss in the WC game to the M’s.

In the OFA’s first-ever Subway Series, after both survive 7-game LCS, the Yanks beat the Mets in six to notch their first Championship.





Awards

MVP

• AL: Stan Musial (Yankees) [3]
• NL: Bob Johnson (Phillies) [1]

CYA

• AL: Roy Halladay (Angels) [2] unanimous
• NL: Jose Fernandez (Mets) [7]

RoY

• AL: Bill Riggins (A’s)
• NL: Austin Martin (Dodgers)

Reliever

• AL: Provine Bradley (Guardians) [1]
• NL: Tim Crews (Phillies) [1]

Feats of Note

• Cycle: Stan Spence, Ben Taylor, Jose Macias
• No-Hitter: Christy Mathewson
• Jose Quintana ties Jack Erwin’s OFA record with a 17-K game

Milestones

• 600 HR: Brandon Lowe
• 500 HR: Mike Schmidt
• 3000 H: Al Simmons
• 1500 RBI: Brandon Lowe, Matt Olson, Mike Schmidt
• 1500 R: Al Simmons
• 500 SB: Max Carey
• 250 W: Ken Raffensberger
• 2500 K: Jose Fernandez
• 400 SV: Antonio Ruiz

Top 20s by WAR





It pains me to do so, but I have decided to impose a "Game as God" rule from here on in, whereby whatever the engine decides, sticks. Sadly, that means Christy Mathewson retires aged 21 and with just two seasons under his belt. Just as Rick and Ilsa will always have Paris, so Big Six will always have Houston and the no-no he pitches against the M's on 08/05/16.

Two slightly less prominent "One-and-Outs" are Edward Lloyd and Austin Martin. Each was the rarest of birds, a 19th-century minor leaguer.

Edward played one season apiece for the Roanoke Magicians of the 1895 VA State League and the Newark Colts of the 1896 Atlantic League. Here in the OFA, he sparkles brightly but briefly with an 18-win / 4 pWAR rookie year for the Snakes and promptly hangs 'em up.

Austin - a near-contemporary of Ed's who played in 1897 and '98 for a couple TX League clubs - leaves an even more indelible mark in the OFA, winning the NL RoY with a 3+ bWAR performance for the Dodgers and heads off into the sunset. He would of course later become famous as the inventor of James Bond's favourite set of wheels.

Ernest "Spoon" Carter was a handy enough pitcher IRL who enjoyed a long 51-win career in the NeL and various Latin American leagues between 1932 and 1948, for which Seamheads credits him with a little over 5 WAR. He has nearly doubled that total in his four OFA seasons so far, and puts together an excellent 1916 campaign that sees him go 16-8 with a swanky AL-best 2.49 ERA (163 ERA+).

Provine Bradley was another NeL player of the 1930s, albeit one with a far briefer career than Spoon enjoyed. Still, he wastes no time making himself right at home in the OFA, registering 45 saves and winning the award for Best Reliever in the AL in his debut season for Cleveland.

Finally, meet pitcher Harry Keich. IRL, Harry played three seasons for the mighty Binghampton Triplets of the NY-P League during the mid-1930s. In his sophomore OFA season, he pops big time, going 17-9 / 2.86 for the Padres, good for 6 pWAR.

[luckymann]

* For consistency's sake, I have changed the naming convention from this point to match that by which the game goes, thus the doubling-up of "1916 Draft".

A fairly low-key Draft sees Tony Kubek chosen 1st overall by the Rays ahead of Reggie Sanders and Howie Moss.




That 23rd pick by the Rockies is NeL legend Luis Tiant sr, father of the great MLB pitcher from some years later.

The Lucky List this time around is Michael Collins, who played for the Jamestown Falcons of the 1969 NY-P League. Still only Jacob Cook from this group has seen any action in the Show.

[luckymann]

While BNN is once again expecting a titanic struggle between the Guardians and Tigers in the AL Central, it is in the NL West they believe the real action will take place, predicting the Rockies, Padres and Dodgers will all finish within a game of one another.

13th-ranked position player Wes Schulmerich is a name that is familiar to me from my Bucs save, where he has recently appeared as we move through the 1930s. As it turns out, this is quite fortuitous as it allows me to point out another example of erroneous stats being used in more vivid terms.

So Wes spent the early part of his career at the PCL LA Angels before making it to the bigs in 1931 and staying there until 1934.

Here's how his IRL stats appear in v22:



It must be noted that in this (The Bucs) save he has imported automatically as per his rookie season.

Here's that same page in the (v23) OFA:



Remembering for this save I have manually imported him.

Which made me think that perhaps these issues are coming from the MiLB DB. But, no, he was imported using his BBRef ID schulwe02.

OK, so I decided to import him using his minors ID schulm001edw. Here's how he imported:



So, no, this issue is right through the DB set.

OK, thanks for your help, Wes - I hope you have as good a rookie season and OFA career as BNN fancies you will.

[luckymann]

In no previous save have I ever encountered the BNN predictions being so spot with such unwavering regularity. Not sure if this has been reworked for v23 or has something to do with my using static LTMs or a combination thereof, but they have rarely missed a beat from Day One.

This year they are particularly prescient. Firstly, the AL Central does go down to the wire with the Guardians getting home from the Tigers by a game as both have 100+ win seasons. While the NL West doesn't evolve into the three-way go they were expecting, the Rockies and Dodgers do finish tied at 86-76 and need a tiebreaker to be separated.

Complicating matters somewhat is the fact that the Phillies also finish with the same record, and it could have been even more so, with the Nats missing out on the party by a solitary game. As it is, two of the three will contest the NL WC once the West race is decided.

Which it is when the Dodgers win 12-7, leaving Colorado and Philly to duke it out in the WC game.

After all that, none of these teams make it past the second round as the M's win their second title in history from the AL WC2 slot, consigning the Mets to their third straight Series loss.





At the other end of the spectrum, my A's lose 110 games...


Awards

MVP

• AL: Jose Fernandez (Mariners) [1]
• NL: Roy Campanella (Nationals) [1]

CYA

• AL: Jose Fernandez (Mariners) [8] unanimous
• NL: Larry Jackson (Pirates) [1]

RoY

• AL: Wes Schulmerich (Astros)
• NL: Matt Harvey (Giants)

Reliever

• AL: Albert Stephens (Mariners) [1]
• NL: Hubert Glenn (Mets) [2] unanimous

Feats of Note

• 6-hit Game: Oscar Charleston
• Cycle: Clarence Smith, Ken Phelps, Chuck Connors, Cory Sullivan, Josh Harrison
• No-Hitter: Jose Fernandez, John Candelaria
• 50+ HR: Darryl Strawberry (51), Matt Olson (51)

Milestones

• 700 HR: Harmon Killebrew
• 600 HR: Matt Olson
• 500 HR: Max Muncy
• 3000 H: Kirby Puckett
• 1500 RBI: Charlie Keller
• 1500 R: Gavvy Cravath, Yoan Moncada
• 700 SB: Willie Wilson
• 250 W: Shane Bieber

New Season Records

• Jose Fernandez: 318 K, 12.01 pWAR

Top 20s by WAR





Jose Fernandez puts together undoubtedly the greatest individual season in OFA history. CYA – his eighth – and MVP. 12 pWAR. No-hitter. Championship Ring.

Wes Schulmerich doesn't let the BNN side down, winning the AL RoY in a canter as well as the batting title with a 357 mark.

IRL, Albert Stephens played just one season - 1948 - in the dying embers of the NeL. His OFA career has been a different story, as he has racked up over 200 saves in his six years in the league, culminating in his 1917 AL Reliever of the Year Award win.

Dionys Cesar was a pretty handy (more than 2000 career hits with 130 dingers) minor-leaguer who spent 1995 to 2015 bouncing around, never making it past AAA. Before this season, he had sort of replicated that in the OFA, playing for eight different clubs and handy at each without ever really standing out. He seems to have blossomed the past few years and 1917 is his best so far, with a 318/381/491 line, 16 HR and 5.7 bWAR. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see more of him on the leaderboards over the next few seasons.

Rube Dessau is another to have benefitted from DB errors, with his stint at Baltimore of the Eastern League in 1908-9 given MLB credit. He's certainly been making the most of it, amassing more than 20 pWAR in his first three OFA seasons. Let's see how he goes from here.

[luckymann]

Some big names join the league as Larry Walker leads the way, taken 1st overall by the A's. Two of the best backstops in recent memory also come on board with Joe Mauer taken 2nd by Tampa Bay and Yadier Molina going 7th to the Royals. Will be nice to watch them strut their stuff and see how they compare to the all-conquering Campy, fresh off his NL MVP win.

Moose Mussina seems a steal for the Jays at 9th, as do Pedro's big brother Ramon Martinez at 20th for the Cards, Mark Langston for Colorado at 22nd and Mark Gubicza at 28 for the Yanks. The Fernando Valenzuela drafted 60th overall by the Pinstripers is not the legendary pitcher but a minor-league 1B from the early 2000s. NeLer Sam Bankhead, who goes to the Halos as the last first-rounder, is another I'll be watching closely, along with Dick Whitworth, who goes early in Round 2.

All in all a fascinating group.



This time the Lucky Last is Brodus Haynes, about as obscure player as could be.

Oh, and in what has become a bit of a running personal joke for me, the second George Burns from the early part of the 20th century has joined his contemporaneous namesake in the OFA. I mean, what are the odds? I will be giving both as wide a berth as possible to avoid any and all confusion...

[luckymann]

In Draft news, neither Jim Rice nor Jim Maloney ended up coming to terms with the club that selected them and they'll both be back again over the next couple.

A nice bit of serendipity as The Big Unit is traded to the Snakes.

John Shew is another to get his stats inflated, with his 1964 season with Miami in the Florida league treated as MLB.

Anthony Pint got no such favours from the database deities and yet despite a justifiably humdrum profile given his sole season in the pro game was with a few teams across a couple Class D leagues in 1954, the BNN soothsayers are predicting big things for him this season, his first in the OFA.

[luckymann]

Burleigh Grimes becomes the OFA’s first million-dollar player.

[luckymann]

Another doozy of an AL East race, with the BoSox and Yanks unable to be separated after 162. A 1-0 walkoff win for the Bombers gives them the division and relegates the Sox to WC2. They are knocked out immediately by the M’s while the Yanks are swept in the DCS by the Tigers, who go on to win their third title.





Awards

MVP

• AL: Ray Brown (Tigers) [1]
• NL: Miguel Cabrera (Nationals) [1]

CYA

• AL: Jose Fernandez (Mariners) [9] unanimous
• NL: Chris Carpenter (Braves) [1] unanimous

RoY

• AL: Anthony Pint (Orioles) unanimous
• NL: Curt Flood (Padres)

Reliever

• AL: Vibert Clark (Royals) [1] unanimous
• NL: Greg McMichael (Braves) [1]

Feats of Note

• 4-HR Game: Anthony Pint
• Cycle: George Burns (and no, I neither know nor care which one…)
• No-Hitter: Frank Sullivan
• 50+ HR: Matt Olson (51)
• Triple Crown: Miguel Cabrera (NL hitting)

Milestones

• 2000 RBI: Brandon Lowe, Harmon Killebrew
• 250 W: Larry Jackson
• 3500 K: Shane Bieber
• 3000 K: Jose Fernandez

Top 20s by WAR





Clearly, the end is nigh for thirtysomething Jose Fernandez as he slumps to a 12 pWAR season with just 258 strikeouts and can only muster up his 9th CYA without winning the MVP as well.

That AL MVP is won by Ray Brown, who puts in a superb two-way performance with 8.3 pWAR and 3.6 bWAR.

A nice touch sees Chris Carpenter win his first CYA at age 36.

After all the brouhaha about Rube Dessau's stats, he suffers a career-ending injury. My karma ran over my dogma.

Anthony Pint doesn't let his admirers at BNN down, winning the AL RoY unanimously with a 7+ bWAR campaign that includes a 4-homer game (130 GSc).

[luckymann]

Moises Alou goes first overall to Minnesota, ahead of Juan Gonzalez with Jim Rice and Jim Maloney - each back for another try - next in line.




The Jose Cruz you see chosen 7th by the Redbirds is junior.

John Sabot, whose only season was for the good old Hickory Rebels of the 1940 Tar Heel League, is the LL.

[luckymann]

The Big Unit's AZ tenure is a short one, lasting just the single season before he signs a 6-year $7.6m deal with the M’s for 1919.

Just a couple to catch my eye this OD.

Firstly, NeLer John Young - whom, it is fair to say, has "popped". Whereas he made barely a ripple IRL, registering a 1-6 record in a short career during the 1920s, BNN has him pegged as the OFA's 10th-best pitcher. He did OK (6-5 / 1.80) out of the Jints BP his rookie year in limited gametime (40 IP), so I'll be following closely to see if he can deliver on the hype and take that next step.

Ernie Clifford is the other I'll be looking out for. Ernie has converted a one-season IRL history (for the 1952 Thomasville Tomcats of the GA-FL League) into a decent OFA career. Entering 1919, his record sits at 109-90 with roughly league-average ERA. Now I can't see this from his pretty average (37/37) ratings and profile, but BNN have got him doing pretty darn well for the Twins this season. We'll see how that plays out.

[luckymann]

Utter dominance by the Yankees, who post an OFA-record 121-win season. Amazingly, despite a 110-win campaign that would have been the new mark were it not for the Pinstripers' efforts, the Halos barely rate a mention. Proof that it counts for nought as the Angels are swept in the DCS and the Yankees survive an almighty scare against KC. They come back from 3-1 down against the Tigers to win the ALCS in 7, but then blow a 3-2 lead in the World Series to lose a decider to the Nats, who won 31 fewer regular-season games.

Stan Musial wins the AL Batting Triple Crown, Matt Harvey the NL Pitching one.





Awards

MVP

• AL: Stan Musial (Yankees) [4]
• NL: Miguel Cabrera (Nationals) [3]

CYA

• AL: Joe Horlen (Yankees) [1] unanimous
• NL: Matt Harvey (Giants) [1] unanimous

RoY

• AL: Juan Gonzalez (Rays)
• NL: Jim Rice (Marlins)

Reliever

• AL: Willie Pope (Rangers) [1]
• NL: Lindy McDaniel (Giants) [1]

Feats of Note

• Cycle: Turner Barber, Victor Sauceda
• No-Hitter: Luis Herrera, Darren McCaughan, Sam Dodge
• 150+ RBI: Stan Musial (150)
• 25+ Wins: Joe Horlen (28-5), Bill Zuber (25-3)
• Triple Crown: Stan Musial (AL hitting), Matt Harvey (NL pitching)

Milestones

• 700 HR: Matt Olson, Brandon Lowe
• 500 HR: Edwin Encarnacion, Mike Moustakas
• 3000 H: Bill Terry, Enos Slaughter
• 300 SV: David Hernandez

New Season Records

• Provine Bradley: 1.95 ERA
• Joe Horlen: 28 W, 9 SHO
• Randy Johnson: 11.00 K/9

Top 20s by WAR





I mentioned little-known NeL pitcher Provine Bradley back in 1916 when he was being used as a reliever. Despite questionable stamina, he effortlessly makes the jump to starter this season, taking out the AL ERA crown with a new OFA record of 1.95.

Henry Compton is another I think I pointed out a while back but can't be sure. Either way, he deserves a mention now as he posts a career-best 5.8 pWAR and earns his second Championship ring in his age-39 season for the Nats.

Ernest Kinkead played IRL in the near-Dark Ages of the 1900s minor leagues, with scant stats accompanying his BBRef entry. He sure makes the most of his meteoric OFA career, belting 44 HR and driving in 102 runs in just 335 AB after being traded by the Mets to the Giants while still at AAA. Sensing that might just be as good as things get, he promptly calls time.

Of those BNN had earmarked on OD, they get one of two right. While John Young goes 15-4 and collects 7 pWAR, Ernie Clifford doesn't enjoy so successful a season, going a combined 8-17 for the Twins and Friars.

Finally, you might have noticed the absence of Jose Fernandez from the awards listing this time around. That is because he is injured early in the season. Hopefully he can come back better than ever and lock down CYA number 10!

[luckymann]

Players are, by and large, enjoying great longevity in the OFA. I suspect we'll start seeing more of these retirements from here on in as of course the entire Inaugural Draft pool consisted of rookies. I am also now manually retiring all players aged 45+ with a POT of less than 25 each season.

Aubry Owens' career comes to an end at age 40 thanks to an injury, although those blowout ERAs in his final couple seasons might have been a hint he should have taken. All the same, a nice career it was and he'd have to be in the running to become the OFA's first HOFer, although I do think Tom "Sugar Boy" Dougherty (who pitched a total of 2 innings for the 1904 White Sox IRL) or perhaps our old mate John Shannahan (who never even got his cup of coffee IRL) will claim that honour.

[luckymann]

In a fairly low-key Draft, Max Bishop goes top of the class to the O's, followed by Adam Wainwright and Brian Dozier.




The 1919 Lucky Last is Ramon Suero, who played for the Yankees' club in the 2006 DR Summer League but went no further.

[luckymann]

Not much from me this time around, just one from 1919 who snuck through my guard.

Pitcher Bill Zuber bounced around in an IRL career that lasted 11 seasons through the 1930s and '40s and never really amounted to much, with BBRef crediting him with just 1.1 total WAR. He seemed destined to relive this in the OFA, with an unimpressive 18-30 record entering last season, but then everything clicked and he put together an astonishing 25-3 campaign for the Halos. He has re-upped with them for two more years, so we'll keep an eye on how he goes.

[luckymann]

Final day drama again in the AL Central as Detroit wins and KC loses to get the Tigers home by a game and relegate the Royals to the WC game. The Pirates sneak home by the same margin over the Reds across in the corresponding NL division.

The M’s survive deciding games in both the ALCS and Fall Classic to lock down their 3rd title.





Awards

MVP

• AL: Stan Musial (Yankees) [5]
• NL: Miguel Cabrera (Nationals) [4]

CYA

• AL: Joe Horlen (Yankees) [2]
• NL: Rube Marquard (Pirates) [1]

RoY

• AL: Elmer Steele (A’s)
• NL: Henry Schneider (Pirates) unanimous

Reliever

• AL: Vibert Clarke (Royals) [2] unanimous
• NL: Gentry Jessup (Reds) [1]

Feats of Note

• Cycle: Bobby Brooks
• No-Hitter: Elmer Steele, Henry Schneider, Rube Marquard, Cory Stewart, Jim McQuaide
• 30-game Hit Streak: Mookie Betts

Milestones

• 800 HR: Harmon Killebrew
• 3500 H: Al Simmons
• 2000 RBI: Matt Olson
• 250 W: Dave Goltz
• 2500 K: Henry Compton, Roy Halladay
• 300 SV: James Field

Top 20s by WAR





A couple interesting RoYs for us to look at.

Elmer Steele was a decent enough pitcher who played for a few MLB clubs in the early 20th-century, fashioning an 1824 record and posting a healthy 123 ERA+. His rookie season in the OFA for Oakland turns out to be his only season in the OFA, and it is a memorable one as he wins the AL rookie award by dint of a 19-win, 7.6 pWAR performance.

Across in the NL, the best debut belongs to Pittsburgh pitcher Henry Schneider. IRL, Henry barely left a scratch in his single season with the Pawhuska Huskers (love it!!) of the 1921 Western Association. His OFA career is an entirely different beast as he goes 16-9 with an NL-best 1.04 WHIP, good for nearly 6 pWAR and the NL RoY.

Intriguingly, BBRef shows a completely separate entry for a gentleman of the same name who played for the Mayfiled Pantsmakers if the KITTY League in 1922. It has no associated stats, but obviously makes me wonder if they haven't doubled up.

I have Mayfield in the AAA level of my AtHoL league, and have given them the nickname "Clothiers". I had the choice when I selected that franchise for this save, but went with the name that had been used the longest (1946-55). Gotta admit I'm a bit jealous of the Pantsmakers now. They don't make them like they used to...

[luckymann]

The Astros are the only franchise without a playoff appearance to this point.

The Mariners, Rockies and Angels lead with 15 and, while the M's have converted three of those appearances into OFA Championships, neither of the other two have won it all. The Halos' 1836-1404 (.567) record is the best; the Rays 1481-1760 (.457) the worst.





Some of those annoying "ghost stats" have polluted the leaderboards. So ignore anything you see before 1901.

[luckymann]

While Doc Halladay suffers a career-ending injury, he can't have had too much left to give at age 37 and should still be a HoF lock.




Jim Bouton of Ball Four fame also hangs 'em up after getting hurt.




And finally for my buddy LSt, Pete Lapan has finally called it a day. Here's his career in toto, such as it is...