Best of the 90s- Season 2 end of regular season

When Hal Richman created the mystery game, he noticed how player performance changed from year to year which made baseball and infinitely interesting game. Here is more data supporting how the same players with the same teams can yield very very different results. Here’s a look at how the teams did in season 1 and how the new owners are doing thus far in season 2.

The two teams with over 100 losses in season 1 are in first place with about 1/4 of the season complete.

East—Season 2--

(Records referenced are as of Sunday morning—this posting was delayed until Monday)

Houston Astros (YCBil)—24-15 (8 games ahead of season 1 record with Burley Norseman)
Atlanta Braves ((Burley Norseman)—21-18 (5 games behind season 1 record with YCBIll)
Montreal Expos (PBDaileyfl)—21-18 (6 games ahead of season 1 record with Fench33)
New York Yankees (KaiserWill4)—19-20 (7 games behind season 1 record with MFL536)

Central

Cincinnati Reds (Generationm1)—23-16 (9 games ahead of season 1 record with Nol15736
San Francisco Giants (Bigdinkent) 20-19 (5 games ahead of season 1 record with JJB92)
Oakland Athletics (Nol15736) 20-22 (9 games behind season 1 record with Generationm1)
Texas Rangers (JJB92) 17-22 (3 games ahead of season 1 record with Bigdinkent)

West

Minnesota Twins (NewGuy1912)—22-17 (10 games ahead of season 1 record with Drabb9529)
Cleveland Indians/Guardians (Fench33) 20-19 (1 game behind season 1 record with PBDaileyfl)
Seattle Mariners (Drabb9529) 18-21 (8 games behind season 1 record with NewGuy1912)
St. Louis Cardinals (MFL536) 10-29 (5 games behind season 1 record with Manillacone—Note, Manillacone was unable to participate in season 2—his slot was taken by KaiserWill4)

Interesting notes on each team

Houston—Greg Swindell is 6-1—ERA 1.89/WHIP 1.01. Billy Wagner 17 saves, 1 blown save—.87 ERA, .97 WHIP. Brad Ausmus—.282/.383/.466—5 home runs/13 RBI.

Atlanta Braves—Big three of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine are 16-10 with ERAs of 3.61, 2.88, 3.25. The big three are consistent with season 1 results----Greg 19-19, John 19-14 and Tom 14-22. Eddie Perez has taken over as starting catcher—.330/.421/.495——2 home runs, 15 RBI. Last year? .158/.200/.184 in only 40 plate appearances.

Montreal Expos: Pedro Martinez is off to a great start—7-2, ERA of 1.21/WHIP .84. The Expos made a great trade acquiring Will Clark from Rangers—Will is at .327/.432/.524 5 home runs/21 RBI. Last year, Pedro was 14-15 3.72/1.26 WHIP.

New York Yankees: Bernie Williams is off to a good start but is now battling injuries—he’s out for the next 8 games after missing 3 games earlier. Bernie is at .384/.438/.652 with 10 home runs/28 RBI. Don Mattingly is struggling—he’s at .241/.274.324. Andy Pettite is 1-5 with an ERA of 6.03/1.61 WHIP. Don's results last year were .269/.359/.413 with 18 home runs while Andy was 18-15 3.92/1.44.

Cincinatti Reds: Pete Schourek (4-0) and Jack Armstrong (4-0) have not lost this season. Hal Morris had an epically bad year in season 1 but is off to a nice start in season 2——.321/.351.415. His season 1 results? .221/.250/.274 in 271 plate appearances

San Francisco Giants: John Burkett is 5-3—ERA of 2.30/WHIP of 1.07. Stan Javier is at .273/.313/.417. Last season, John got released after going 4-6 4.46/1.51. Stan was traded after contributing .222/.265/.315. On the other side, Salomon Torres went 16-8 3.58/1.23. This season? He’s been released 2-3, 7.12/1.55.

Oakland Athletics: Jimmy Haynes is off to an impressive start—he’s at 7-3 with a 3.64/1.31. Dennis Eckersley has not allowed a run this season in 16 innings—he’s only allowed 3 hits. On the other side, Matt Stairs is at .136/.333/.341 in 56 plate appearances. He has hit 3 home runs/driven in 9 runs. Last season, Matt contributed .266/.354/.494 blasting 30 home runs.

Texas Rangers: Juan Gonzalez was a monster last year—48 home runs, 138 runs knocked in—.298/.362/.814. This season is a very different story—.179/.222/.343 with 3 home runs in 70 plate appearances. Juan has already missed 19 games with injuries. Bobby Witt is off to a great start—he’s 5-1 2.63/1.08 WHIP. Last season? Bobby was 1-7 with a 5.79/1.59 and was released.

Minnesota Twins: Pat Rapp is 2-1 in 35 innings—ERA 2.06/1.17 WHIP. Pedro Munoz .319/.361/.550—4 home runs in 97 plate appearances. Last year—Pat was 7-10 with 4.87/1.48. Pedro had 102 plate appearances before being released—Pedro was at .232/.284/.337 with 2 home runs.

Cleveland Indians: Albie Lopez led the team in wins—he was 14-8 for the season. His ERA was 3.96/1.34 WHIP. This year? 0-7—ERA of 10.18 and a WHIP of 2.41.

Charles Nagy—was 6-8—only pitched 99 innings for the season. 5.71 ERA/1.40 WHIP. This year? Charles has been pitching like an ace—7-1 with ERA of 2.47/1.33.


Jim Thome—.296/.411//.581 with 39 home runs and 96 RBI. Jim’s power has stayed—14 home runs but a slash line of .219/.321/.519.

Seattle Mariners—Last season league champion Seattle was led by Ken Griffey Jr. who blasted 62 home runs and a slash line of .297/.379/.628 and Alex Rodriguez who hit 39 home runs .300/.379/.513 with 39 home runs. Tino Martinez and Jay Buhner played supporting roles—neither had outstanding years—Tino .249/.348/.453 with 17 home runs. Jay hit 38 home runs but his slash line was .238/.335/.485.

Things have changed this year—Jr. and Alex haven’t found last years magic. Jr is at .253/.332/.500 while Alex is at .205/.301/.477. Jay has picked up the slack—he’s at .281/.360/.641 with 18 home runs. Tino is at .250/.312/.579 with 12 home runs.

St. Louis Cardinals: Ozzie Smith—.218/.292/.272 in 589 ABs. Todd Zeile—35 doubles and 14 home runs—.260/.332/.392.

Todd is at .223/.257/.369 with only 2 home runs. Ozzie leads the team in stolen bases with 11 and is at .259/.345/.333.

Games played: 60

Note--players team is only listed if they were NOT part of the team most closely associated with the player

Houston 38-22 +10 games versus season 1 (14-7 for the week)
Atlanta 36-24 -2 (15-6)
New York Yankees 31-29 -3 (12-9)
Montreal 30-30 +7 (9-12)

Cincinnati 41-19 +14 (18-3) interestingly, that is the same record Generationm1 had with the Athletics after 60 games
San Francisco 29-31 +2 (9-12)
Texas 27-33 +1 (10-11)
Oakland 23-37 -18 (4-17)


Minnesota 32-28 +10 (10-11)
Cleveland 32-28 +1 (12-9)
Seattle 25-35 -11 (7-14)
St. Louis: 16-44 -11 (6-15)


Players with OPS over 1.000—

Bernie Williams 1.076
Rickey Henderson 1.070
Jeff Bagwell 1.067
Brian Giles 1.054
Manny Ramirez 1,052
Barry Bonds 1.012

Batting Average

Bernie Williams .371
Julio Franco .350
Omar Vizquel .340

On base percentage

Jeff Bagwell .467
Rickey Henderson .449
Jeff Blauser .448

Home runs

Brian Giles 23
Jay Buhner 21
Dante Bichette (Cincinatti Reds) 20

Doubles

Jeff Bagwell 25
Barry Bonds 21
Mark Grudzielankek 21

RBI

Dante Bichette 66
Larry Walker 50
Fred McGriff 50

Stolen Bases

Barry Bonds 35
Delino Deshields 33
Marquis Grissom 17

Best OPS for players under $3 million

Jeff Blauser—.951 for $2.47
Eddie Perez—..865 for $2.01
Carlos Baerga—.858 for $1.24

Lowest OPS for players over $3 million

Don Mattingly .257/.290/.341 OPS .631
Tim Wallach .225/.270/.342 OPS .621
Bernard Gilkey .228/.303/.304 OPS .607

ERA

Pedro Martinez 1.26
Greg Swindell 2.25
Douig Drabek 2.66

Wins

Pedro Martinez 11
Greg Maddux 10
Pete Harnisch 9
Charles Nagy 9
Greg Swindell 9

WHIP
Pedro Martinez .91
Doug Drabek 1.03
Greg Swindell 1.07

Best ERA for pitchers under $3 million

Charles Nagy 2.76—Charles is 9-3
Todd Stottlemyre (Minnesota Twins) 3.12 Todd is 6-4
Trevor Wilson 3.30—Trevor is 3-2


Strike Outs

Randy Johnson 143
Kevin Brown 121
Pedro Martinez 120

Home runs allowed
Jose Rijo 19 in 83 innings
Dave Stewart 16 in 80 innings

Worst WHIP for pitchers over $3 million

Erik Hanson—1.63 WHIP at salary $3.37
Joe Magrane 1.64 at $2.92
Dave Stewart 1.77 at $3.17

Notes of interest——Cincinnati is on a 12 game winning streak. Earlier this year, Houston won 13 in a row which is the high mark for winning streak this season.

Games played: 81

Atlanta (Burley Norseman) 48-33 (12-9 week)—+4 from season 1
Houston (YCBill) 47-34 (9-12) +7 from season 1
Montreal (PBDaileyfl) 43-38 13-8) +7 from season 1
New York (KaiserWill4) 42-39 (11-10) -9 from season 1

Cincinatti (Generationm1) 47-34 (6-15 for the week) +12 from season 1
San Francisco (Bigdinkent) 39-42 (10-11) no change from season 1
Texas (JJB92) 39-42 (12-9) +3 from season 1
Oakland (Nol15736) 29-52 (6-15) -21 from season 1

Cleveland (Fench33) 45-36 (13-8 fro the week) +4 from season 1
Minnesota (NewGuy1912) 39-42 (7-14) +12 from season 1
Seattle (Drabb9529) 38-43 (13-8) -8 from season 1
St. Louis (MFL536) 30-51 (14-7) +3 from season 1

Owner records—season 1 plus season 2 at half way point

BurleyNorseman-86-76 Houston + Atlanta 48-33=134-109 55.14%
YCBill 83-79 Atlanta/Houston-130-113 53.49%
PBDailey 89-73 Cleveland/Montreal 132-111 54.32%
KaiserWill4 (inclues Manillacone record from season 1) 74-88 St. Louis/New York Yankees 116-127 47.74%

Generationm1 98-64 Oakland/Cincinatti 145-98 59.67%
Bigdinkent 83-79 Texas/San Francisco 122-121 50.00%
JJB92 85-77 San Francisco/Texas 124-119 51.28%
Nol15736 60-102 Cincinatti/Oakland 89-154 36.62%

NewGuy1912: 98-64 Seattle/Minnesota 137-106 56.37%
Fench33 75-87 Montreal/Cleveland 120-123 49.38%
Drabb9529 52-110 Minnesota/Seattle 90-153 37.03%
MFL536 89-73 New York/St. Louis 119-124 48.97%

Mid season draft---team bonus money/player(s) selected

Braves: $1.5 million: John Vander Wal will be joining the Braves to add outfield/DH flexibility for Burley Norseman’s first place club.

Astros: $1.5 million: Brian L Hunter was added to the roster to assist in the outfield. Gerald Young, Carl Everett and Derek Bell are all hitting under .225 so YCBill is looking for outfield help.

Expos: $1.5 million : Ray Durham will be joining the Expos to shore up the second base position—Delino Deshields was producing .243/.336/.336 but did have 40 stolen bases.

Yankees: $1.5 million: Unhappy with the production of Pat Kelly (.151/.182/.256) and Steve Sax.206/.264/.244 versus right handed pitching, Jose Lind was added to the club.

Reds: $ 2 million: Kevin Gross was added to the pitching staff—Generationm1 also chose Kevin Gross in the mid-season draft during season 1 when he was leading the Athletics.

Giants: $6 million: Bigdinkent added 3 players—Lance Johnson will take over in CF, Jim Eisenreich provides additional outfield flexibility while Mike Lavalliere will provide an option at catcher. Steve Decker—who blasted in 28 home runs in season 1—was released after 16 at bats with 2 hits.

Rangers 6 million: Texas added Garret Anderson, Johnny Damon, Rey Ordenez and Mariano Duncan. The Rangers spent exactly $6 million dollars which was their limit.

Athletics: $2 million: Kevin Seitzer was added by the Athletics providing infield options at first, second and third base.


Guardians: $7 million: Not too surprisingly, Cleveland added pitching acquiring both Alex Fernandez and Jon Leiber. The Guardians have a team ERA of 5.61.

Twins-$22 million: The Twins were very active adding Ryne Sandberg, Mickey Tettleton, JT Snow, Randy Tomlin and Luis Polonia to the roster. Current starters Mark Lemke, Joe Girardi and Kent Hrbek might not get many at bats in the second half of the season. The Twins were also active on the trade front—the Twins acquired Mariano Rivera and Dion James for Matt Lawton, Mike Paguliarulo and Mike Trombley. The Yankees lost Wade Boggs to a 15 game injury and Mariano had an ERA of over 5 with the Yankees.

Mariners: $6 million: The Mariners added Rick Reed and Pat Hentgen to the club—Rick was acquired by the Twins/Drabb9529 during season 1’s draft

Cardinals: $15 million: The Cardinals added firepower to their offense adding both Mike Piazza and Andres Galarraga to the team.

An update on the mid-season MVP for each team from season 1—how many of the MVPs are repeating their exceptional performance?

Braves: Season 1 Ryan Klesko has delivered .315/.382/.576 and has 12 home runs/37 runs batted in.

Ryan has been battling injuries—he’s at .264/.385/.444 with only 4 home runs/19 runs batted in. The addition of John Vander Wal makes sense with this information.

Astros Season 1: Jason Giambi continues to mash---.353/.464/.644--Jason has 17 homers and 65 runs batted in.

The Astros did not acquire Jason this season—Jason’s numbers are decent but not up to season 1 results. Jason remained with the Athletics—he’s at .289/.384/.449 with 12 home runs/46 RBI.

Expos: Season 1: Pedro Martinez has delivered 4 shutouts and 5 games where only 1 run was allowed. Pedro is 9-7 with a WHIP of 1.10.

Pedro has been even better in season 2——he is 15-3 with an ERA of 1.30/WHIP of .96. He has tossed 8 shut outs—including 5 consecutive shut outs. The most runs allowed by Pedro? 3.

Yankees: While Bernie Williams is having an outstanding season (.344/.408/.502), Jimmy Key is 11-7 and has an ERA of 2.77/WHIP of 1.06..

Season 2: Bernie is at .354/.429/.598 so he is even better then he was in season 1. Jimmy has not found the magic of season 1—he is 6-7 ERA of 4.21/WHIP of 1.40.

Reds: Season 1 Barry Larkin has 18 doubles, 16 home runs and 44 runs batted in--he's at .299/.365/.518.

Barry has been one of the stars of the first place Reds—he’s at .325/.415/.538 improving on all three numbers versus season 1. He has also stolen 22 bases .

Giants: Season 1 Barry Bonds has lived up to his salary---.376/.463/.634 along with 16 stolen bases.

While playing well, Barry has not replicated his season 1 results—he’s at .291/.428/.586. He’s hit 16 home runs and stolen 39 bases.

Rangers: Season 1 Juan Gonzalez has 29 home runs and 80 runs batted in. Juan is at .296/.358/.623

Juan has had a tough year thus far—he has missed 27 of the first 81 games due to injury and his slash line is .211/.248/.404 with 6 home runs/19 runs batted in.

Athletics: Season 1 Jose Canseco has blasted 21 home runs and driven in 53 runs while delivering a .271/.391/.546 along with 5 stolen bases.

Jose was struggling with the Athletics and was traded to the Braves in a trade involving David Justice and Javier Lopez. For the season, Jose is at .213/.336.430. He has hit 16 home runs and driven in 41 runs with 10 stolen bases.


Indians: Season 1 Brian Giles continues to impress--he's at .332/.391.668 to lead the offense. Brian has 17 doubles and 25 home runs.

Brian continues to impress—his slash line is .311/.418/.689 driven by his league best 30 home runs

Twins: Season 1 Kirby Puckett is at .296/.358/.445--Kirby has 28 doubles to lead the Twins offense.

Kirby has been solid in season 2—he’s at .296/.351/.432. He has 18 doubles and 8 home runs at the half way point.

Twins: Season 1 Kirby Puckett is at .296/.358/.445--Kirby has 28 doubles to lead the Twins offense.

Kirby has been solid in season 2—he’s at .296/.351/.432. He has 18 doubles and 8 home runs at the half way point.

Mariners: Season 1 Ken Griffey Jr. has 26 home runs, 14 stolen bases and is at .277/.351/.561

Jr. has launched 22 home runs but his slash line is at ..266/.331/.529 in season 2.

Cardinals: Season 1 Ray Lankford has 14 home runs and 52 runs batted in--he's at .316/.403/.576

Ray is at .252/.362/.421 with 9 home runs and 25 RBI in season 2.

Only 4 of the 13 MVPs have improved on their season 1 results and some---Juan Gonzalez and Jose Canseco--have been borderline horrible.


MVP per Strat

Brian Giles
Barry Larkin
Jeff Bagwell

Cy Young
Pedro Martinez
Billy Wagner
John Smoltz

Games played: 102

Houston (YCBill) 59-43 47-34 (12-9)) +8 from season 1
New York (KaiserWill4) 57-45 (15-6) -6 from season 1
Atlanta (Burley Norseman) 55-47 (7-14 week)—+1 from season 1
Montreal (PBDaileyfl) 51-51 (8-13)) +5 from season 1

Cincinatti (Generationm1) 57-45 47-34 (10-11 for the week) +10 from season 1
Texas (JJB92) 55-47 39-42 (16-5) +8 from season 1
San Francisco (Bigdinkent) 52-50 39-42 (13-8) +3 from season 1
Oakland (Nol15736) 38-64 (9-12) -28 from season 1

Cleveland (Fench33) 56-46 45-36 (11-10)) +4 from season 1
Seattle (Drabb9529) 49-53 (11-10) -7 from season 1
Minnesota (NewGuy1912) 48-54 39-42 (9-12) +15 from season 1
St. Louis (MFL536) 35-67 (5-16) -17 from season 1

Surprises on the upside and disappointments for each team

While it's doubtful that anyone would be surprised that Barry Bonds is having a great season, each team has some players who have been a pleasant surprise. Others have underperformed--here's a player in each category for each team.

Yankees: Tim Leary is 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 1.27 WHIP.

What is wrong with Mariano Rivera? Before being traded to the Twins in a deal the netted Matt Lawton and Mike Paguliarulo, Mariano was 2-3 with 7 saves/3 blown saves. ERA of 6.19 and WHIP of 1.52. Melido Perez who made list last year as a surprise was released after going 1-3 with an ERA of 8.18/WHIP of 2.00

Braves: Eddie Perez has been a pleasant surprise—he’s at .332/.405/.472 with 22 doubles.

David Justice managed to make the list for a second consecutive season===.194/.300/.364 in 238 plate appearances before being traded to the Athletics.

Astros: Greg Swindell is 10-4—2.54 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. He has only allowed 12 home runs in 134 innings pitched.

Derek Bell—122 plate appearances—.224/.278/.336 with just 1 home run.

Expos: While Pedro Martinez gets a lot of rightful attention, Dennis Martinez has also put up impressive numbers. He has an ERA of 3.13 and a WHIP of 1.18 even though he is at 9-10 for the year.

Mel Rojas was traded to the Athletics—his ERA was 8.44/WHIP of 2.13 in 16 innings

Athletics: Joey Cora, acquired in a trade with the Mariners is at .301/.359/.376 in 200 plate appearances.

Geronimo Berroa who was the surprise in season 1 makes the list as disappointment in season 2. After 260 plate appearances, Geronimo is still looking for his first home run. His slash line is .235//.317/.255

Giants: Glenallen Hill has 250 plate appearances—he’s launched 17 doubles and 16 home runs. His slash line is .329/.388/.610.

Marvin Benard had 186 plate appearances—.213/.295/.260 before being released.

Rangers: Bobby Witt was last years disappointment and was released after going 1-7. This season? Much better—Bobby is at 9-9 with an ERA of 3.69 WHIP of 1.29 in 141 innings pitched.

Rick Helling was released after 4 starts—he was 0-2 with an ERA of 6.20/WHIP of 1.72.

Reds: Willie Greene and Rob Dibble once again appear on the list but flipped positions.

Rob has pitched 88 innings and struck out 116. His ERA of 2.03/WHIP of 1.00.

Willie has struggled all year—in 68 plate appearances, his slash line is .105/.250/.175

Mariners:

Jay Buhner continues to play well—he has 432 plate appearances and has launched 26 home runs with 58 runs batted in.

Pat Hentgen was acquired in the mid-season draft—he’s started 5 games and is 0-5. His ERA is 7.82/WHIP of 1.97.



Cardinals: Gerald Perry is at .288/.332/.361 in 204 plate appearances.

Bob Tewksbury makes his second appearance on the disappointment list—he’s at 6-15 with an ERA of 5.10/WHIP of 1.41.

Indians: Charles Nagy is 13-6 with an ERA of 4.04—he’s been the best starter for the club. Carlos Baerga has delivered huge results—.352/.371/.545 with 16 home runs and team best 78 RBI.

Albie Lopez was 0-8 with an ERA of 9.73/WHIP of 2.41 before his release.

Twins: Terry Pendleton, acquired in a preseason trade with the Braves has delivered .324/.357/.529 in in 351 plate appearances.

Brian Harper was released after 92 plate appearances—his slash line was .188/.255/.271

Games played: 123

A change in leadership in the Central while Houston and Cleveland extend their leads in the east and west

Houston (YCBill) 72-51 (13-8)) +11 from season 1
New York (KaiserWill4) 65-58 (8-13) -9 from season 1
Atlanta (Burley Norseman) 63-60 (8-13 week)—-1 from season 1
Montreal (PBDaileyfl) 62-61 (11-10)) +6 from season 1


Texas (JJB92) 68-55 (13-8) +8 from season 1
Cincinatti (Generationm1) 65-58 (8-13 for the week) +13 from season 1
San Francisco (Bigdinkent) 61-62 (9-12) same as season 1
Oakland (Nol15736) 47-76 (9-12) -28 from season 1

Cleveland (Fench33) 72-51 (16-5)) +7 from season 1
Seattle (Drabb9529) 60-63 (11-10) -7 from season 1
Minnesota (NewGuy1912) 59-64 (11-10) +18 from season 1
St. Louis (MFL536) 44-79 (9-12) -16 from season 1


New York: Once again, leads league in fewest errors with 58. In season 1, the Yankees led the league with the fewest errors at 60. Tied with Braves for most complete games with 22.

Cleveland leads the league in runs scored 693/5.63 per game, batting average .284, on base percentage .344
and slugging percentage at .475 which is a full 100 points better than Oakland which is at .375. Cleveland has also hit 35 triples to lead the league.

Houston: 10-2 record against division rival Montreal.
Seattle—leads league in home runs with 186. Cleveland is second with 181. Interestingly, San Francisco is last with just 100.

How important is pitching? Cleveland has team ERA of 5.16 which is 11th in the league. Team WHIP is 1.56, tied for last with Oakland. Cleveland is also tied with Houston with the best record in the league at 72-51.

Three teams have blown 24 saves—Cincinatti, Seattle and San Francisco have all been on the doorstep of a victory only to have something go terribly wrong.

Houston is dominating from the mound—only allowing 3.6 runs per game. WHIP is an impressive 1.19

Montreal leads league in strike outs with 904, an average of 7.34 per game.

Atlanta leads league in walks, strolling to first 531 times. In contrast, Minnesota has only received 346 walks over the same 123 games. There is a lot of standing around in an Atlanta game—they also lead the league in strikeouts with 862 (average of 7/game) while Montreal is the team with the fewest strike outs (6 per game).


Cardinals lead the league in doubles with 243; Oakland is in last with 182

San Francisco leads league with 151 stolen bases Seattle is last with 34. Barry Bonds has swiped 59 stolen bases and Stan Javier has contributed 22 more.

Longest winning/losing streaks

Houston 13 games winning/5 game losing
New York 6/5
Atlanta 6/8
Montreal 6/5

Texas 5/4
Cincinatti 12/9
San Franciso 9/7
Oakland 6/10

Cleveland 8/4
Seattle 5/7
Minnesota 5/5 (twice)
St. Louis 6/11

Games played: 144

Houston (YCBill) 84-60 72-51 (12-9)) +11 from season 1
New York (KaiserWill4) 76-68 (12-9) -5 from season 1
Atlanta (Burley Norseman) 75-69 (12-9 week) +2 from season 1
Montreal (PBDaileyfl) 71-73 (9-12) +2 from season 1


Texas (JJB92) 83-61 (15-6) +12 from season 1
Cincinatti (Generationm1) 77-67 (12-9 for the week) +21 from season 1
San Francisco (Bigdinkent) 73-71 (12-9) -1 from season 1
Oakland (Nol15736) 51-93 (4-17) -38 from season 1

Cleveland (Fench33) 80-64 72-51 (8-13)) +3 from season 1
Seattle (Drabb9529) 72-72 (12-9) -11 from season 1
Minnesota (NewGuy1912) 68-76 (9-12) +20 from season 1
St. Louis (MFL536) 54-90 (10-11) -15 from season 1

Wild card race:

The Reds hold a one game lead over the Yankees, 2 over the Braves, 4 over the Giants and 5 over the Mariners who seem to be making a move.

A look at the mid-season draft to see how the drafted players are doing—are they helping their team or have they been a disappointment?

Houston: Brian L Hunter: Brian has been a contributor—he’s swiped 18 bases and has a slash line of .240/.302/.343 in 256 plate appearances.

New York: Jose Lind was added to the team—Jose has taken over at second base—he has turned 51 chances into 45 outs (88%). Jose has only made 3 errors. In contrast, Steve Sax who had been handling second base duties converted 55 outs during 77 chances—71%. Jose also been decent at the plate with 198 plate appearances—he’s at .251/.276/.319

Atlanta: John Vander Wal was added—he’s been a disapointment. Burley Norseman was hoping to get a boost versus right handed pitching but John produced .147/.237/.324 in 38 plate appearances. John only drove in 2 runs.

Montreal: Added Ray Durham to take over second base from Delino DeShields—Ray is at .247/.338/.351 in 217 plate appearances.

Texas: Texas added Garret Anderson, Johnny Damon, Mariano Duncan and Rey Ordonez to the roster—

Garret:113 plate appearances—.255/.281/.309 with 1 home run/7 RBI—mehh performance
Johnny: 204 plate appearances—..249/.350/.435 with 7 stolen bases but 8 caught stealing.
Mariano: 63 plate appearances—..226/.234/.258
Rey: 184 plate appearances—.231/.277/.341. In the field, Rey has turned 53 out of 60 (88%) chances into outs. Rey has made 6 errors. By comparison, Walt Weiss the prior starter had converted 65 out of 82 chances (79%) into outs.

San Francisco: Added Lance Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and Mike Lavalliere to the roster

Lance: In 290 plate appearances, Lance has been a huge contributor. He’s scored 40 runs, stolen 30 bases and has a slash line of .324/.349/.453.

Jim: Another positive addition to the club—Jim is at .327/.374/.441—he’s driven in 21 runs with 9 doubles, 4 triples and 2 home runs.

Mike: At the plate, he’s at.215/.295/.269. Mike has allowed 21 stolen bases in 29 attempts.

Oakland: Added Kevin Seitzer to the club, Kevin was traded to the Braves in a large trade that added Brad Radke, Chipper Jones and Ryan Klesko to the club. Kevin’s combined stat line in 182 plate appearances is .291/.359/.382 with 1 home run and 17 RBI.

Cleveland: Added pitchers Alex Fernandez and Jon Leiber to the club.

Alex: Alex has a record of 8-6 with an ERA of 4.64/WHIP of 1.32 in 17 games.

Jon: Jon has started 16 games and has posted a stellar record of 9-2 with an ERA of 2.82 WHIP of 1.10 giving the Indians a much needed boost to their starting staff.

Seattle: Added Rick Reed and Pat Hentgen

Rick: Rick has started 10 games and is 5-2 with a 3.17 ERA/WHIP of 1.11—a solid contributor.
Pat: Things did not go well for Pat—he was released after going 0-6 in his 6 starts. Pat had an ERA of 9.00 and a WHIP of 2.14.

Minnesota: Added Luis Polonia, Ryne Sandberg, Mickey Tettleton, JT Snow and Randy Tomlin to the club.

Luis: In 154 plate appearances, Luis has scored 21 runs with a slash line of .220/.284/.284.
Ryne: In 269 plate appearances, Ryne has launched 14 homers, 14 doubles and has only made one error. However, Ryne’s slash line is .230/.293/.464. In the field, Ryne converted 47 outs out of 51 chances—an impressive 92%.
Mickey: In 177 plate appearances, Mickey is at .233/.359/.413 with 5 home runs and just 17 runs batted in. Mickey has thrown out 10 of the 30 base stealers.
JT: JT has been the shining star of the group—he’s at .379/.450/.762 launching 17 home runs and 19 doubles to drive in 46 runs.
Randy: In 6 starts, Randy is 1-2 with an ERA of 6.69/WHIP of 1.86

St. Louis: Added Mike Piazza and Andres Galarraga

Mike: In 227 plate appearances, Mike is at .283/.313/.514—he’s hit 13 home runs and 30 RBI. Base stealers have stolen 52 bases in 76 attempts.

Andres: In 273 plate appearances, Andres is at .225/.282/.376 with 8 home runs and 31 RBI

Gold medal winning draft pick: Fench33 gets the gold for his choice of Jon Leiber—Jon has been the staff ace and helped propel the Indians to the division lead.

Silver medal: Bigdinkent added Lance Johnson to handle center field and Lance has not disappointed.

Bronze medal: Although the Twins have had a tough second half of the season, JT Snow has been an offensive force for the Twins.

Most disappointing: Pat Hentgen was a huge letdown to Drabb9529.

Alert….alert……alert……..

If you are enjoying these updates and would like to participate in this theme using the 80s players set, we are in the league planning stage. We are likely about a week away from starting. Some of the current owners will not be able to participate in the upcoming league. If you are interested, please message me or post to the board.

The season wrapped up on Friday night--here are the results of season 2

Games played: 162

Houston (YCBill) 93-69 (9-9)) +7 from season 1
Montreal (PBDaileyfl) 84-78 (13-5) +9 from season 1
New York (KaiserWill4) 84-78(8-10) -5 from season 1
Atlanta (Burley Norseman) 81-81 (6-12 week) -2 from season

Texas (JJB92) 94-68 (11-7) +10 from season 1
Cincinatti (Generationm1) 90-72 (13-5 for the week) +30 from season 1
San Francisco (Bigdinkent) 80-82 (7-11) -5 from season 1
Oakland (Nol15736) 56-106 (5-13) -42 from season 1

Cleveland (Fench33) 89-73 (9-9)) same record as season 1
Seattle (Drabb9529) 86-76 (14-4) -13 from season 1
Minnesota (NewGuy1912) 75-87 (7-11) +23 from season 1
St. Louis (MFL536) 60-102 (6-12) -14 from season 1

The Reds used a strong final week to hold off the hard charging Seattle Mariners for the wild card. The Mariners who put together a 28 game winning streak in season 1 finished the season 14-4 finishing just 4 games out of the wild card race. The east divsion was tough all season--all teams finished .500 or better and the constant battles between the titans prevented the wild card from coming from that division.

Playoff matchups---Rangers vs Indians; Astros vs Reds

Manager results---2 season

Congratulations to Generationm1 for his performance guiding teams to the playoffs in both season 1 and season 2, the only manager with that accomplishment. Here are the two season records along with the teams managed

Generationm1: Athletics (won division) and Reds (won wild card): 188-136 58.02%
JJB92: Giants and Rangers (won division) 179-145 55.25%
YCBill: Braves and Astros (won division) 176-148 54.32%
PbDaileyfl: Indians (won wild card) and Expos 173-151 53.40%
NewGuy1912: Mariners (won championship) and Twins 173-151 53.40%
BurleyNorseman: Astros and Braves 167-157 51.54%
Fench33: Expos and Indians (won division) 164-160 50.62%
Bigdinkent: 163-161 Rangers and Giants 163-161 50.31%
KaiserWill4/Manillacone: Cardinals and Yankees 158-163 48.77%
MFL536: Yankees (won division) and Cardinals: 149-175 45.99%
Drabb9529: Twins and Mariners: 138-186 42.59%
Nol15736: Reds and Athletics: 116-208 35.80%

Here is the MVP for each team and the most surprising player--some pleasant surprises while others contributed to disappointment for the respective owner:

Houston— MVP Billy Wagner—54 saves….79 innings—111 ks ERA 1.13/WHIP .90

Biggest surprise—Brad Ausmus—.287/.352/.457 15 home runs/23 doubles

Montreal—Pedro Martinez 25-8 326 innings

Surprise: Ray Lankford acquired in a late season trade—.340/.444/.654 contributed to the Expos late season run towards the playoffs

New York: Bernie Williams .343/.414/.558

Paul O'Neill—131 plate appearances .177/.296/.248

Atlanta Eddie Perez—.313/.398/.464——9 hrs 64 rbi

Tom Glavine—37 game started—12-20 era 4.49/1.46—lost 8 of last 9 starts

Texas: Ivan Rodriguez—.316/.347/.562–42 hr—126 RBI,

4th and 5th starters Mike Bilecki and Roger Pavlik were a combined 17-7. Roger finished the year with a n ERA of 3.10/whip of 1.23

Cincinatti: Eric Davis—.312/.385/.584 23 sbs 42 hr 106 rbi played in 157 games
Hal Morris bounced back from horrible season 1—.337/.379/.457——23 doubles, 11 hrs. Season 1: .221/.250/.274

San Francisco: Barry Bonds——.278/.426/.528—70 stolen bases 48 doubles 142 walks 26 hrs

Trevor Wilson—10-9——179 ips 144 hits 3.56 era, 1.18 whip

Oakland: Jason Giambi—.270/.361/.425—24 home runs, 83 rbi,
Dave Stewart—7 wins, 27 losses 208 ip, 274 hits—7.36 era, 1.79 whip lost last 9

Cleveland: Brian Giles——.297/.400/.629….51 hrs, 39 doubles, 136 rbi

Jon Leiber—13-3——era 3.25, WHIP 1.14--Jon was mid-season acquisition by Fench33

Seattle: Ken Griffey Jr. ——.291/.350/.547 44 hrs, 116 rbi, 36 doubles

Starters Pat Hentgen, Paul Abbott and Jeff Suppan went a combined 3-19 collective ERA of 7..34—Seattle finished just 4 games from the playoffs so any improvement would have made a huge difference

Minnesota: Kirby Puckett—.296/.349/.463—21 hrs, 72 rbi, 39 doubles

Ryne Sandberg——.225/.288/.465 in 341 plate appearances--not exactly the production NewGuy1912 hoped for when Ryne was added to the roster mid-season.

St. Louis Brian Jordan—.296/.346/.449—19 hrs 32 doubles, 80 rbi

Joe Magrane—6-13, 213 ips——4.56/1.54 whip

Here's a look at the individual performances for the year--players with team most associated with them unless otherwise noted)

Batting average

Julio Franco .352
Bernie Williams .343
Hal Morris .337

Home runs
Brian Giles 51
Ken Griffey Jr. 44
Manny Ramirez 44

RBI

Brian Giles 136
Dante Bichette (Cincinatti) 130
Ivan Rodriguez 126

Doubles

Jeff Bagwell 51
Barry Bonds 48
Edgar Martinez 46

Triples

Kenny Lofton 15
Barry Larkin 11
Omar Vizquel 10
Derek Jeter 10

walks

Barry Bonds142
Jeff Bagwell 130
Rickey Henderson (Oakland/Atlanta)130

Strike outs

Jay Buhner 186
Jim Thome 172
Reggie Sanders 168

OPS

Jeff Bagwell 1.033
Brian Giles 1.029
Manny Ramirez.996

ERA
Pedro Martinez1.57
Greg Swindell 2.61
Ken Hill 3.17

Strikeout
Pedro Martinez366
Randy Johnson 339
Kevin Brown 314

Wins
Pedro Martinez 25
Randy Johnson 22
Pete Harnisch 22

WHIP
Pedro Martinez .95
Greg Swindell 1.12
Doug Drabek 1.13

Losses
Dave Stewart 27
Bob Tewksbury 24
Mike Moore 22

Hi all, I wanted to share an insight that I review as the season progresses as well as at the end of the season.

Every year I take a look at the best value players for the leagues that I am in and wanted to share with you all my findings based on our current league, in my opinion.

Best players under 2 million

Houston - Ausmus, B. - .287 .352 .457
Montreal - Smith, O. - .310 .394 .372
New York - Kamieniecki, S. - 3.61 1.34 – 4 Wins and 4 Losses
Atlanta - Reardon, J. - 3.02 1.15 – 4 Wins and 2 Saves

Texas - Pavlik, R. - 3.10 1.23 – 9 Wins and 3 Losses
Cincinnati - Oliver, J. - .273 .322 .446
San Francisco - Gardner, M. - 3.47 1.23 – 9 Wins, 7 Losses and 2 Saves
Oakland - Cora, J. - .247 .314 .303

Cleveland - Baerga, C. - .327 .350 .513
Seattle - Kingery, M. - .301 .336 .337
Minnesota - Pendleton, T. - .304 .348 .473
St. Louis - Thompson, M. - .319 .351 .503

My choice for overall best valued player under 2 million for this season goes to Cleveland – Carlos Baerga - .327 /.350/.513 and 36 doubles, 6 Triples and 26 Homeruns as well as 123 RBI’s in 678 plate appearances for 1.24 million.

many thanks to JJB92 for putting all the work into the league and the updates as that was insightful for me and I know the time it takes to keep up with this and appreciate it.

Good luck to everyone here, except when we play.....