Send me your card add suggestions! I get to add 5.

I know that this is late, but how about upgrades for the following catchers and third basemen?

1961 Earl Battey, Twins, C Bats R, 3R .302 17 55 .377 .470 .847 Career highs in BA, R, DO, OBP & OPS. 2nd career bests in HR, BB, TB & OPS+. Gold Glove winner.

1961 Earl Battey, MIN, Bats-R, 3R Balance, C-1(-3)e2, 2 INJ Rating, 15 Game INJ Risk
LH--7.5 2b, 0 3b, 0 HR, 5 BB 310/348/383, .731 OPS
RH--5.3 2b, 0 3b, 5.5 HR, 13 BB 386/465/617, 1.082 OPS

https://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/30620/1660/1/60

1963 Earl Battey, Twins, C Bats R, E .285 26 84 .369 .476 .845 Career highs in HR, RBI, BB, SLG, TB & OPS+. 2nd career bests in R, Hits & OBP.

1963 Earl Battey, MIN, Bats-R, E Balance, C-1(-3)e3, 1 INJ Rating, 15 Game INJ Risk
LH--3.9 2b, 0 3b, 3.6 HR, 15 BB 358/465/521, .986 OPS
RH--2.1 2b, 0 3b, 7.5 HR, 12 BB 339/431/603, 1.034 OPS

https://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/30620/1660/1/60

Current 1965 Battey, 3.90m, MIN, Bats-R, 1L Balance, C-2(-3)e7, 2 INJ Rating, 15 Game INJ Risk
LH--13.6 2b, 0.8 3b, 1.5 HR, 10 BB 351/417/554, .971 OPS
RH--3.5 2b, 0.2 3b, 1.3 HR, 14 BB 334/427/415, .842 OPS

Battey was generally regarded as one of the best catchers in the American league from 1960-1966. He was a great defensive player and a consistent hitter.

61 & 63 give Battey more power, better OBP. 1963 with its low INJ rating and power especially vs RHP is nice.


1975 Carlton Fisk, Red Sox, C 2(-2)e7 T-11, Bats R .331 10 52 .395 .529 .923 Career high BA. Near career highs in OBP, SLG, OPS & OPS+. This is the season that Fisk hit the dramatic walk off World Series game 6 12th inning HR that he waved fair that we all watched growing up. 2 Inj rating, like most catchers. Probably a 4L or 5L. This Fisk card would provide managers with a lefty masher alternative to the other Fisk cards, which range from E to 4R.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRi6iZAl-I


1983 Jody Davis, Cubs .271 24 84 .315 .480 .795 Career highs in H, HR, BA, SLG, OPS, OPS+ & TB. Long time Cubs catcher would be a big improvement over fan favorite Randy Hundley in the Post WWII & Expansion Era player set and would be a decent platoon partner with Rick Wilkins in franchise leagues.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/832824/1680/1/80


1982 Terry Kennedy San Diego .295 21 97 .328 .486 .814. Career highs in HITS, DO (42!) HRs, SLG & OPS and just missed career highs in RBI and BA. In 1982 Kennedy actually hit lefties better than righties.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/36332/1982/2/1982


1985 Rich Gedman C, Red Sox 5R .295 18 80 .362 .484. .846. Career highs in HITS, BA, DO, RBI & OPS. This is easily the best season for the longtime BoSox backstop. 1 ATG card

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/834244/1680/1/80


1980 Buddy Bell, Texas .329 17 83 .379 .498 .877 Gold Glove Career high in BA, SLG, OPS & OPS+. 2nd career high in OBP.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/830734/1680/1/80


1979 Bob Horner, Braves .314 33 98 .346 .552 .898 Career highs in BA, HITS, SLG, RBI, TB. 2nd career high in HR, OPS & OPS+. 4e31.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/835583/1680/1/80

1983 Bob Horner, Braves .303 20 68 .383 .528 .911 Career highs in DO, OBP, OPS & OPS+. 2nd career highs in BA. 4e17.

These are good hitting cards, but are probably more suited for DH than 3B.

1981 Carney Lansford, Red Sox 3B .336 4 52 .389 .439 .828 AL batting champ & Silver Slugger in strike shortened season. Career highs in BA, OPS. 2nd career high in OBP.

1989 Carney Lansford, A's 3B .336 2 52 .398 .405 .803 Career high in OBP, tied career high in BA. Highest BA for an A's player in the 50+ seasons playing in spacious Oakland Coliseum dating back to 1968.


1982 Toby Harrah, Indians 3B 3e13 .304 25 78 .398 .490 .879 17 SB Career highs in BA, SLG, DO, OPS & OPS+. 2nd career high in HR. Bulletproof! I can't count the times Harry Caray reminded listeners that Harrah was spelled the same forward & backward!

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/34980/1982/2/1982

1987 Brook Jacoby, Indians .300 32 69 .387 .541 .928 Career highs in BA, HR, SLG, OPS & OPS+. 2nd career high in DO.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/835855/1680/1/80

1990 Kelly Gruber, Blue Jays .274 31 118 .330 .512 .842 Career highs in every major offensive category except BA, where it was his 2nd career high. Gold Glove, Silver Slugger.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/834729/1680/1/80


1991 Terry Pendleton, Braves .319 22 86 .363 .517.880 NL MVP Led league in BA, HITS & TB. Switch hitter. Career highs in BA, HR, SLG, OBP, OPS & OPS+. 2nd career high in RUNS, HITS & DO. 2e27

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/803545/1680/1/80

One more;

1970 Ken Henderson; SF Giants ;I have his card from the old set, but no online card as of yet. Ken is a switch hitter who can play all 3 outfield positions as a 2. He batted .294 with an OBP of .394 with 17 Hrs; in addition he is an A base stealer.

Henderson would be a nice addition to franchise leagues assuming he is priced correctly. Let's face it we already have just about every great player and every great season in the pool notwithstanding some of the more recent seasons, With his versatility he just might be a popular choice.

1970 Ken Henderson, Switch hitting OFer, Giants .294 17 88 .394 .460 .854 Career highs in R, 2B, BA, BB, OBP, SB & OPS. Near career high in H, HR RBI, SLG & OPS+. 2(-2)e12 at all 3 OF positions.

1974 Ken Henderson, White Sox CF 2(-2) .292 20 95 .360 .467 .827 Career highs in G, H, 2B, HR, RBI, SLG & OPS+. Near career high in 3B & OPS. Led AL in games (all 162) and AL CFers in PO. Henderson was a fine OFer and hitter who was slowed by knee problems throughout his career. He has just one lousy card.

https://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/735212/1670/1/70

1974 Bart Johnson CWS SP 10-4 2.74 1.12whip
Spring training injury in 1975 derailed a promising career.
Would be a nice addition for the Exp-era White Sox.

Johnson came to the White Sox as a highly touted flame thrower, but struggled with control early in his career. He had a live arm and could stand at home plate and throw the ball over the center field fence more than 400 feet away. He caught fire mid-way through the 1971 season and was virtually unhittable out of the bullpen the rest of the season. Johnson was notoriously flaky, and he quit pitching in 1972 due to a knee injury to become an OFer. He returned to pitching and had his best season in 1974. Despite battling with Sox management during his career, he was a long time and highly respected White Sox scout after his playing days were over. Passed away on April, 22, 2020.

https://365.strat-o-matic.com/player/735942/1670/1/70

https://ripbaseball.com/2020/04/28/obit ... 1950-2020/

Thanks so much everyone. I have sent my picks to strat, and apologize in advance for pleasing no one. Here they are:

1. Steve Avery 1993 - as mentioned above, I was a lefty pitcher and named myself Steve Avery on my fake ID in high school.

2. Jim Thorpe 1919 - Muadib1950 was actually suggesting Bo Jackson, compared him to Thorpe, and I thought "oh, Thorpe, that would be cool." Scumbyjr suggested Thorpe and his 1919 season.

3. Jose Oliva 1994 - tkl33. Funky little small sample season. Just my style.

4. Cisco Carlos 1967 - scorehouse - another funky little small sample season. If this bothers you, I suggest you go win Barnstormers. (and recall that my Platonic ideal here is Eddie Gaedel).

5. Denny Hocking 2000 - rolandzeut. Outta nowhere! 1-4 settled in nicely for me, but #5 cold have been any number of guys. I ultimately fell for his multiple positions.

Honorable Mention - these guys were veeery close, and some of them were on various drafts of the list:

Bob Watson 1977 (FrankieT and everyone else)
Joe Grzenda 1971 (BDWard)
Whitey Lockman (andycummings)
Hideki Matsui (rolandzeut)
Royce Clayton (BCNY15 and others)
Tuck Turner 1894 (dougvantyle)
Dave Magadan (BCNY and egvrich)
Bob Boyd (tlkearns)
Dave Collins (Druid)
Darrel Kile (sneakysnake)
Javier Vasqez (marcpelletier)

thanks for the update. i wanted to nom Cisco but he didn't meet the innings requirement which for Rp's and the new rules should be reduced anyway. but thanks i hope he makes it i will be the first to try and grab him! i nominated MVP Mantle circa 1962.

Thanks so much everyone. I have sent my picks to strat, and apologize in advance for pleasing no one. Here they are:

1. Steve Avery 1993 - as mentioned above, I was a lefty pitcher and named myself Steve Avery on my fake ID in high school.

2. Jim Thorpe 1919 - Muadib1950 was actually suggesting Bo Jackson, compared him to Thorpe, and I thought "oh, Thorpe, that would be cool." Scumbyjr suggested Thorpe and his 1919 season.

3. Jose Oliva 1994 - tkl33. Funky little small sample season. Just my style.

4. Cisco Carlos 1967 - scorehouse - another funky little small sample season. If this bothers you, I suggest you go win Barnstormers. (and recall that my Platonic ideal here is Eddie Gaedel).

5. Denny Hocking 2000 - rolandzeut. Outta nowhere! 1-4 settled in nicely for me, but #5 cold have been any number of guys. I ultimately fell for his multiple positions.

Honorable Mention - these guys were veeery close, and some of them were on various drafts of the list:

Bob Watson 1977 (FrankieT and everyone else)
Joe Grzenda 1971 (BDWard)
Whitey Lockman (andycummings)
Hideki Matsui (rolandzeut)
Royce Clayton (BCNY15 and others)
Tuck Turner 1894 (dougvantyle)
Dave Magadan (BCNY and egvrich)
Bob Boyd (tlkearns)
Dave Collins (Druid)
Darrel Kile (sneakysnake)
Javier Vasqez (marcpelletier)

Nice picks. Like the quirky ones. I suggested Thorpe because you said to think outside the box so I was wondering about baseball players who were more famous for something else. Cisco Carlos a name from my childhood. Had a Sox fan uncle who took me to Comiskey. Remember fireworks because Tommy Agee or someone hit a HR.

Will Cisco be a Starting Pitcher? 7 starts in 8 appearances in 1967

Thanks for the community aspect Matt--that was great. Fun choices!