Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

Choose your top 15 cards. The Top 25 will be sent to Strat on March 7th. (Poll open for 10 days).

Thanks,
Bill

33. 2014 Michael Brantley CLE, Bats-L, 2R Balance, 327/385/506, .891 OPS. LF-1(-2)e1, CF-2(-1)e1. 3rd in MVP Voting! No cards 660 PA 20 HR 23 SB 45 DB 97 RBI 200 H

There's a typo in Brantley's CF defensive rating arm. He should be a CF-2(-2)e1.

Here's the link to Brantley's 2014 card:
https://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/90807/2014/1/2014

I'm not sure why '36 Gehrig is described as NOT bulletproof? 719 PA in 1936 = 0 INJ, no?

rolandzeut wrote:I'm not sure why '36 Gehrig is described as NOT bulletproof? 719 PA in 1936 = 0 INJ, no?

The 1936 card does have an injury on it, though I would expect it to be a remainder of the game only type.

BC15NY wrote:

rolandzeut wrote:I'm not sure why '36 Gehrig is described as NOT bulletproof? 719 PA in 1936 = 0 INJ, no?

The 1936 card does have an injury on it, though I would expect it to be a remainder of the game only type.

Don't know the real reason why he is not bulletproof; he played in every game the Yankees played. The Yankees only played 153 games in 1936, while tying two games, for a total of 155 games. Gehrig played in all 155. I wonder if, because the Yankees didn't play 154 complete games, if that threw it off somehow.

But he does have an injury on 1-2 and 4-2

andycummings65 wrote:

BC15NY wrote:

rolandzeut wrote:I'm not sure why '36 Gehrig is described as NOT bulletproof? 719 PA in 1936 = 0 INJ, no?

The 1936 card does have an injury on it, though I would expect it to be a remainder of the game only type.

Don't know the real reason why he is not bulletproof; he played in every game the Yankees played. The Yankees only played 153 games in 1936, while tying two games, for a total of 155 games. Gehrig played in all 155. I wonder if, because the Yankees didn't play 154 complete games, if that threw it off somehow.
But he does have an injury on 1-2 and 4-2

For what it's worth, I have never seen a player with 680 PA injured for even a partial game. I've played in a lot of Mystery Card leagues, where injuries are closely scrutinized because they might disclose a player's year. But it just never happens that a 1 player (680 PA) misses even part of a game due to injury. Cal Ripken, for example, in the 80s game, has injuries (for some reason) on his 83 and 84 cards. In both seasons he played every game. Ripken had 680+ PA in both years, and is rated as a 1 injury. And I've never seen him injured with either card.
So, for what it's worth, I treat the 0 and 1 ratings as functionally equivalent. And so far, at least, I have never been disappointed.

OK, last day to vote. The current cutoff is 26 votes. Eddie Mathews and Steve Finley are tied for 25/26.

They are chasing Bench, Cobb, Brecheen, and yet another Pedro, who all have 28.

Guys chasing them are Bob Locker at 25, Otis Nixon and Buck Weaver at 24, and Michael Brantley and Stan Bahnsen at 23.

If you haven't voted yet, here's your chance to back your favorites.

And this means that the following (with my opinions) are almost surely in.

Billy Williams - He will add to a weak position in the high cap leagues, and also give Cubs franchise teams a big-time LH bat to balance their lineups.

Richard Hidalgo - a welcome new face in the OF, and a prized reverse RH bat for the Minute Maid crowd.

Frank Robinson - This will likely be his best card.

Craig Kimbrel - yet another shutdown reliever.

Tris Speaker - it will be interesting to see whether this will be his best card.

Chipper Jones - definitely will be prized in high cap leagues.

Johnny Cueto - I think this card will disappoint his fans, with 2 BPHR and 5.5 XBH against RHB, although his card vs. left is better.

Corey Kluber - Another card that few will use, with a +6 hold, and 1.2 HR with 2 BPHR both ways. Great card otherwise.

Lindy McDaniel - An interesting 5-day starter, likely with a low price since he will be an S5/R3.

Amos Otis - Probably will be a popular CF at $100 million if the price is right.

Jake McGee - great matchup card and any Rays player is welcome.

Mike Easler - Fond memories of the Hit Man. My newlywed wife and I went to a Pirate game late in 1980 and after the game, stopped in one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. A few minutes later, Mike walked in with his wife and were seated next to us. He had had a good game, and we had a brief chat.

Barry Bonds - another card that nobody will use. Why do we keep doing this?

Phil Niekro - should be interesting to see his card. Likely will be a welcome addition to the 5-day starter set.

Dave LaRoche - good lefty relievers are still in short supply.

Zeke Bonura - Andy C is smiling.

Cliff Floyd - This card might be marginally useful at moderate caps, but it looks a lot like Bobby Higginson (.300/.370/.538), minus the glove. Still, should be included to start building a Marlins franchise.

Lou Gehrig - I think this might be another wasted card, since both his current cards represent seasons where he slugged over .700 with better batting averages and slightly worse OBP's. We will see.

Harry Walker - A nice card for a baseball lifer. Probably won't be of much use unless priced well.

Matt Harvey - an interesting 5-day starter card.

Johnny Bench - Lower triple slash stats across the board than the much-despised Carlton Fisk card. Primarily will be used because of the nearly injury proof status.

Ty Cobb - Another wasted card, with better hitting stats than only one of his current cards, and lousy defense.

Harry Brecheen - This might be a useful card at mid caps.

Pedro Martinez - the only reason I can see for including this card is to hook Pedro to Mets franchise teams. He had 5 seasons with ERA+ over 200 and FIP under 2.40 and 28 guys voted for a season with 146 and 2.95. Really. I'd rather see a Syndergaard card added.

Can we have a voting where we get upgraded cards and players with NO cards ONLY? I'm tired of players getting a 4th, 5th or even 6th card when a number of players have NONE or NON-usable cards!

FRANKMANSUETO wrote:Can we have a voting where we get upgraded cards and players with NO cards ONLY? I'm tired of players getting a 4th, 5th or even 6th card when a number of players have NONE or NON-usable cards!

We can certainly look at that at some point. However, it appears that we will have at least several cards in this add that meet that criteria.

Thanks,
Bill

Also, thanks to rburgh for the analysis.