The virtual 1958-68 Giants, Reds, and Cardinals (Part 7: 1963-64)
Our extended counterfactual journey has now completed six seasons:
1957-58
1958-59
1959-60
1960-61
1961-62
1962-63
One of our Giants or Reds teams has achieved a first-place finish in every virtual seasons since 1959, when they tied for first. Meanwhile, the real each franchises snagged just one pennant each in that period. Our Cardinals, who actually broke through as a contender in 1963, remain mired in the middle of our version of the National League.
Giants: Actual Reds: Actual Cardinals: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 80 74 3 727 698 76 78 4 695 623 72 82 5T 619 704
1959 83 71 3 705 613 74 80 5T 764 738 71 83 7 641 725
1960 79 75 5 671 631 67 87 6 640 692 86 68 3 639 616
1961 85 69 3 773 655 93 61 1 710 653 80 74 5 703 668
1962 103 62 1 878 690 98 64 3 802 685 84 78 6 774 664
1963 88 74 3 725 641 86 76 5 648 594 93 69 2 747 628
Giants: Virtual Reds: Virtual Cardinals: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 83 71 2T 747 692 73 81 5 683 637 77 77 4 640 677
1959 87 67 1T 737 615 87 67 1T 802 662 84 70 4 725 685
1960 93 61 1 709 561 76 78 6 705 666 86 68 4 661 632
1961 88 66 2 787 648 106 48 1 813 629 72 82 6 689 724
1962 103 59 1 800 632 101 61 2T 779 663 84 78 6 809 703
1963 97 65 3 726 578 100 62 1 704 540 80 82 6 664 668
The 1963-64 offseason: Actual deals we will make
April 9, 1964: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder-infielder Gary Kolb and catcher Jimmie Coker to the Milwaukee Braves for catcher Bob Uecker.
In an unusually light trading season, we see just one and only. And it barely makes it, coming on the eve of Opening Day. It’s no earth-shaker, as our Cards and their real-life counterparts, swap a pair of bench parts for a good-defense-little-offense backup catcher (albeit one with a notably wry sense of humor).
The 1963-64 offseason: Actual deals we will not make
Nov. 4, 1963: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder George Altman and pitcher Bill Wakefield to the New York Mets for pitcher Roger Craig.
We never acquired Big George, and so won’t be acquiring Mr. Humm Baby.
Dec. 3, 1963: The San Francisco Giants traded outfielder Felipe Alou, catcher Ed Bailey, pitcher Billy Hoeft, and a player to be named later to the Milwaukee Braves for pitchers Bob Hendley and Bob Shaw and catcher Del Crandall. (On Jan. 8, 1964, the Giants sent infielder Ernie Bowman to the Braves, completing the deal.)
Since our Giants no longer have the eldest Alou brother, they won’t be able to partake in this big shakeup. Our Cardinals do have Felipe, but don’t wish to part with him.
Dec. 14, 1963: The Cincinnati Reds purchased third baseman Steve Boros from the Chicago Cubs.
Nor do our Reds have any interest in this journeyman.
Feb. 17, 1964: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Jim Beauchamp and pitcher Chuck Taylor to the Houston Colt .45s for outfielder Carl Warwick.
Beauchamp has jumped way up on our prospect list by hitting .337 with 31 homers in the Texas League in 1963. Our Cardinals would rather give him a chance to make the major league team in ’64 than exchange him for the journeyman Warwick.
The 1963-64 offseason: Deals we will invoke
Sep. 30, 1963: The San Francisco Giants purchased pitcher Don McMahon from the Houston Colt .45s.
On this date in real-life, Houston sold McMahon to Cleveland, but our Giants think he can bolster the bullpen at low cost, and won’t let him clear waivers.
Oct. 1, 1963: The Cincinnati Reds traded catcher Jimmie Coker to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Dom Zanni.
Our Cincinnati organization stashed Coker in triple-A in ’63, but our St. Louisans think they might have a use for him. (He will be included in the Uecker trade in the spring.)
Oct. 10, 1963: In a special National League draft, the San Francisco Giants surrendered pitcher Mike McCormick to the New York Mets.
The NL decided (quite sensibly, it’s always seemed) to conduct a small supplementary expansion draft to help out the still-struggling Mets and Colt .45s. Each of the eight pre-expansion franchises made a list of non-marginal players available, and New York and Houston got one pick apiece. The player the Mets actually chose was pitcher Jack Fisher from the Giants, but since we didn’t trade McCormick for Fisher a year ago, it seems reasonable that in our scenario it’s McCormick they’ll take.
Nov. 30, 1963: The San Francisco Giants signed catcher Hal Smith as a free agent.
The Colt .45s have released this veteran, and our Giants will give him a shot at third-string catcher.
(And here we go again with the coincidental names … there have been three Hal Smiths to play in the major leagues, and two of them were right-handed-batting catchers playing at almost exactly the same time, this one from 1955-64 and the other one from 1956-65.)
Jan. 20, 1964: The St. Louis Cardinals traded infielder Eddie Kasko to the Houston Colt .45s for pitchers Jim Dickson and Wally Wolf and cash.
Actually, Houston made this trade with Cincinnati, but since it’s our Cardinals who still have Kasko, they’ll do it instead. Dickson and Wolf are second-tier prospects, but in St. Louis we have younger talent we believe ready to take over the utility infielder gig from Kasko.
March 1964: The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitcher Dick LeMay to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Paul Doyle.
The southpaw LeMay has never been able to break through since our Cardinals acquired him back in 1960, and now St. Louis is ready to give someone else a shot. Doyle is also a left-hander, a year younger than LeMay and more raw, but harder throwing. Our Giants, in need of a lefty spot starter to replace McCormick, will give LeMay another chance, and the St. Louis organization will give Doyle the opportunity to further develop in the minors.
The 1964 season: Actual deals we will make
June 26, 1964: The Cincinnati Reds sold pitcher Al Worthington to the Minnesota Twins.
Worthington did well for our Reds in 1963, but has gotten squeezed back to triple-A this year, so we’ll let the Twins have him. (Oops. The 35-year-old Worthington, better late than never, will blossom into a splendid relief ace in Minnesota.)
The 1964 season: Actual deals we will not make
April 14, 1964: The San Francisco Giants purchased outfielder Duke Snider from the New York Mets.
May 13, 1964: The Cincinnati Reds purchased pitcher Ryne Duren from the Philadelphia Phillies.
As much fun as both of these additions would be, neither of our rosters have room.
June 15, 1964: The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitchers Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz and outfielder Doug Clemens to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Lou Brock and pitchers Paul Toth and Jack Spring.
And then, of course, there was this little piece of business.
Alas, our Cards don’t have Broglio. And though our Giants do, as tempting as the toolsy-but-still-spinning-his-remarkable-wheels Brock is, there’s no room for him in the San Francisco outfield.
But, you know, there is room in the St. Louis outfield. So …
The 1964 season: Deals we will invoke
June 15, 1964: The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitcher Ray Sadecki to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Lou Brock.
Sadecki doesn’t have anything near Broglio’s track record of success, but he’s still just 23 (five years younger than Broglio—heck, he’s two years younger than Brock), and looks as though he might be on the verge of busting out. So far in 1964, Sadecki’s displaying better control than ever before, and has six wins and four complete games.
Of course, he might not bust out, just as Brock might never fulfill his abundant potential. There’s risk on both sides of this one, as there is any time when talented young underperformers of this type are exchanged. But the Cubs need pitching help, and have other options in the outfield, and our Cards need outfield help and have other options on the mound. Both teams will roll the dice.
1964 season results
Giants
Our roster changes are minimal. McMahon joins the bullpen and LeMay gets an opportunity to join the back end of the rotation. The most significant alteration is in right field, where we’ll give Jim Ray Hart the regular job (assuming he can avoid beanballs) and move Walt Bond to a utility role.
1964 San Francisco Giants Won 100 Lost 62 Finished 2nd
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B W. McCovey* 26 130 364 61 80 14 1 18 54 61 73 .220 .336 .412 .748 108
2B-SS H. Lanier 21 98 306 29 84 13 2 2 24 4 35 .275 .274 .350 .624 73
SS A. Rodgers 29 129 448 53 106 17 3 12 44 52 85 .237 .312 .368 .680 90
3B K. Boyer 33 162 649 103 187 30 8 24 66 71 85 .288 .358 .470 .828 130
RF J. Hart 22 153 566 73 162 15 6 31 83 47 94 .286 .341 .498 .839 132
CF W. Mays 33 157 578 123 171 21 9 47 114 82 72 .296 .382 .607 .989 172
LF-1B O. Cepeda 26 142 529 77 161 27 2 31 100 43 83 .304 .361 .539 .900 148
C T. Haller* 27 105 332 40 84 12 3 14 41 47 44 .253 .346 .434 .780 117
OF-1B W. Bond* 26 99 272 29 70 8 3 12 39 18 46 .257 .309 .441 .750 107
C J. Orsino 26 81 248 21 57 10 0 7 23 20 51 .230 .288 .355 .643 79
IF J. Pagan 29 101 221 19 50 6 1 1 17 21 40 .226 .288 .276 .564 59
OF J. Alou 22 77 188 21 50 5 0 2 14 6 18 .266 .291 .324 .616 72
2B C. Hiller* 29 72 164 17 30 6 1 1 14 14 18 .183 .245 .250 .495 39
OF M. Alou* 25 73 100 14 25 2 1 0 6 3 11 .250 .276 .290 .566 59
SS G. Garrido 23 38 70 6 11 1 0 0 3 4 11 .157 .197 .171 .369 4
C H. Smith 33 21 44 4 5 1 0 0 2 8 13 .114 .245 .136 .382 10
C T. Talton* 25 16 37 2 9 1 0 0 3 2 5 .243 .282 .270 .552 56
1B N. Larker* 33 14 24 2 6 1 0 0 1 3 2 .250 .333 .292 .625 77
Others 29 6 4 1 0 0 3 3 8 .138 .219 .172 .391 11
Pitchers 404 23 52 7 0 0 22 23 150 .129 .167 .146 .313 -11
Total 5573 726 1404 198 40 202 673 532 944 .252 .316 .411 .726 102
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
J. Marichal 26 33 33 22 23 6 0 269 241 89 74 18 52 206 2.48 144
G. Perry 25 44 19 5 14 9 4 206 179 65 63 16 43 155 2.75 129
E. Broglio 28 29 27 6 9 10 1 170 172 78 68 18 57 84 3.60 99
B. Bolin 25 30 23 4 7 6 0 157 130 65 58 15 69 130 3.32 107
D. LeMay* 25 29 23 5 11 8 0 151 140 60 54 14 48 86 3.22 111
J. Sanford 35 18 17 3 7 5 0 106 91 44 39 7 37 64 3.31 108
D. Estelle* 22 13 10 1 3 3 0 72 67 30 27 4 39 51 3.38 105
S. Miller 36 66 0 0 8 6 20 97 81 38 34 6 30 80 3.15 113
D. McMahon 34 56 0 0 6 2 5 81 56 26 21 7 34 66 2.33 153
B. O'Dell* 31 36 8 1 8 6 1 85 82 55 51 10 35 54 5.40 66
B. Pierce* 37 34 1 0 3 0 2 49 40 14 12 6 10 29 2.20 162
Others 1 0 1 1 1 34 29 12 12 4 6 26 3.18 112
Total 162 47 100 62 34 1477 1308 576 513 125 460 1031 3.13 114
* Throws left
The good news for the offense is that Hart is healthy and terrific, an immediate star. The bad news is that our second base platoon partners Chuck Hiller and Jose Pagan, who’d hit pretty well back in 1962, and less well in ’63, hit terribly this time around. In frustration, we promote smooth-fielding, slap-hitting Hal Lanier from the minors in mid-season, and while he doesn’t hit well (that .274 OBP alongside a .275 batting average is a neat trick), he hits better than Pagan and (especially) Hiller.
The worst news is that our young star first baseman Willie McCovey is gripped by a season-long slump. The supposed explanation is chronically sore feet brought on by a pair of ill-fitting shoes. All we can say is, that must have been one truly nasty pair of shoes.
We’re still getting tremendous performances from Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda and Ken Boyer. Though we don’t present quite the run production capability of the past few years, we remain remarkably power-laden, exceeding 200 team home runs for a staggering fourth year in a row.
We have a few pitching issues. Jack Sanford misses almost half of the season with a shoulder injury, and Ernie Broglio and Billy O’Dell both endure off-years. But positives abound, including stepping-forward years from 25-year-old right-handers Gaylord Perry and Bob Bolin. McMahon more than repays our confidence, and LeMay is a delightful surprise. With Juan Marichal once again leading the way, our staff is outstanding, our best since 1960.
We win 100 ball games.
And finish in second place.
Reds
Cincinnati’s modifications are even more marginal than San Francisco’s. The only new names are a hard-throwing 22-year-old rookie right-hander, Sammy Ellis, to whom we’ll grant a bullpen slot, and second-chance corner infielder Deron Johnson fresh off a 33-homer season in triple-A.
1964 Cincinnati Reds Won 101 Lost 61 Finished 1st
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B-3B D. Johnson 25 126 382 50 104 19 3 17 62 30 78 .272 .327 .471 .798 120
2B P. Rose# 23 129 464 53 125 12 2 4 30 32 46 .269 .317 .330 .646 81
SS L. Cardenas 25 155 537 56 137 29 2 8 60 38 98 .255 .302 .361 .663 84
3B T. Harper 23 134 429 60 106 10 3 7 32 52 75 .247 .325 .333 .658 84
RF F. Robinson 28 156 568 104 174 38 6 29 95 79 67 .306 .396 .548 .943 160
CF-LF V. Pinson* 25 148 584 95 158 21 11 22 80 39 90 .271 .320 .457 .777 114
LF T. Gonzalez* 27 124 379 47 108 23 3 5 36 40 64 .285 .357 .401 .758 111
C J. Edwards* 26 110 317 35 90 17 1 6 41 26 48 .284 .333 .401 .734 104
O-2-3 C. Flood 26 118 340 48 103 12 1 3 22 22 25 .303 .345 .371 .716 100
C-1B E. Bailey* 33 82 217 23 56 8 1 5 25 27 30 .258 .340 .373 .713 99
1B-OF M. Keough* 30 98 221 23 56 7 1 7 22 17 47 .253 .310 .389 .699 94
LF J. Lynch* 33 95 198 23 53 9 1 11 39 18 37 .268 .327 .490 .817 124
C J. Azcue 24 69 181 13 49 6 1 3 23 9 23 .271 .303 .365 .667 85
1B W. Moon* 34 79 157 12 37 3 1 3 12 16 29 .236 .301 .325 .626 75
IF C. Ruiz# 25 51 104 11 24 4 1 1 5 1 15 .231 .234 .317 .552 52
IF B. Klaus 26 20 47 5 9 2 1 1 3 2 7 .191 .216 .340 .556 52
Others 79 8 14 2 0 2 7 7 20 .177 .244 .278 .523 45
Pitchers 427 23 53 6 1 5 38 17 163 .125 .154 .177 .331 -8
Total 5631 689 1456 228 40 139 632 472 962 .259 .315 .387 .702 95
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
J. Pizarro* 27 33 33 11 19 8 0 239 203 84 74 22 49 158 2.79 130
J. O'Toole* 27 30 30 9 17 7 0 220 194 71 65 8 51 145 2.66 136
J. Maloney 24 31 31 11 15 10 0 216 175 72 65 16 83 214 2.71 134
C. Osteen* 24 37 24 8 12 7 0 171 164 68 60 11 38 90 3.16 115
B. Purkey 34 34 20 7 9 7 1 157 141 59 50 12 39 64 2.87 126
J. Jay 28 34 18 8 9 9 2 146 131 58 53 13 29 110 3.27 111
S. Ellis 23 52 4 1 9 2 16 102 82 31 28 7 23 106 2.47 147
H. Haddix* 38 49 0 0 3 3 10 72 56 22 18 3 16 72 2.25 161
J. Nuxhall* 35 42 2 0 3 3 5 62 51 25 24 6 21 50 3.48 104
J. Tsitouris 28 37 1 0 3 4 3 61 57 27 23 5 28 55 3.39 107
Others 0 0 2 1 1 21 25 16 12 1 8 19 5.14 70
Total 163 55 101 61 38 1467 1279 533 472 104 385 1083 2.90 125
* Throws left
We see a transition at first base, as Wally Moon proceeds into full decline mode, but Johnson calmly steps up and takes over with lusty hitting. And Ellis proves to be superb, quickly becoming our top relief ace.
But across the breadth of our roster, what’s remarkable about this season is the degree to which virtually every player does more or less as expected. Some have pretty good years, some have slightly disappointing years, but all is well within the range of normal expectation. We get just about exactly what we should expect to get from this team.
And that proves to be one hell of a lot.
Our hitting comes in at okay, nothing special, slightly better than league average. But our pitching is just stunning, lights out across the board without a single superstar. Our team ERA+ is the best presented by any National League team in a decade.
We win 101 big ones, and in a race this close every last one of them is big. By the finest of margins, we walk away with our second straight pennant, and third in four years. It’s our fourth consecutive 100-victory season, the first time that’s ever been achieved in baseball history. We’re putting together something like a dynasty.
Cardinals
Like the Giants and Reds, our Cardinals have made few trades this offseason. But unlike them, we’re introducing numerous new faces from the farm system. Right-hander Harry Fanok will get a shot in the starting rotation, rookies Jerry Buchek and Phil Gagliano will get long looks in the infield, and a trio of rookie outfielders—Beauchamp, Johnny Lewis, and Mike Shannon—will get opportunities to win significant roles.
And, of course, in June we pull the trigger on the Sadecki-for-Brock swap, introducing yet another young outfielder into the mix (Lewis is sent down to make room), and opening up a spot on the staff for rookie left-hander Gordie Richardson.
1964 St. Louis Cardinals Won 87 Lost 75 Finished 4th
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B B. White* 30 160 620 90 188 36 4 21 98 51 101 .303 .352 .476 .828 123
2B J. Javier 27 155 535 66 129 19 5 12 63 30 82 .241 .279 .363 .641 73
SS D. Schofield# 29 121 398 50 103 23 5 3 36 55 61 .259 .355 .364 .719 97
3B J. Davenport 30 116 357 29 88 14 8 2 31 36 58 .246 .301 .347 .648 76
RF-LF L. Thomas* 28 139 458 50 122 22 4 13 53 33 37 .266 .317 .417 .734 98
CF-RF F. Alou 29 121 415 60 107 27 3 11 49 31 41 .258 .311 .417 .728 96
LF-CF L. Brock* 25 103 419 81 146 21 9 12 42 27 87 .348 .377 .527 .905 144
C T. McCarver* 22 143 465 53 134 19 3 9 50 40 44 .288 .340 .400 .740 101
IF J. Buchek 22 95 291 32 69 11 6 4 30 24 81 .237 .292 .357 .649 76
OF M. Shannon 24 88 253 30 66 8 2 9 42 19 54 .261 .305 .415 .720 94
3B-2B P. Gagliano 22 88 241 21 56 9 1 2 23 17 30 .232 .278 .303 .581 58
OF J. Beauchamp 24 87 203 31 44 10 1 10 28 19 54 .217 .288 .424 .711 91
OF J. Lewis* 24 64 168 19 39 4 3 3 13 20 43 .232 .311 .345 .656 79
OF B. Burda* 25 70 122 15 26 5 0 3 17 14 12 .213 .290 .328 .618 68
C B. Uecker 29 33 71 5 14 0 0 1 4 11 16 .197 .313 .239 .553 53
C D. Ricketts# 28 27 42 2 8 2 0 0 2 2 3 .190 .227 .238 .465 27
CF H. Goss 29 13 20 2 4 1 0 0 2 1 6 .200 .238 .250 .488 33
Others 42 3 11 0 0 0 3 2 10 .262 .295 .262 .557 54
Pitchers 421 23 65 14 3 1 20 13 153 .154 .172 .209 .382 3
Total 5541 662 1419 245 57 116 606 445 973 .256 .308 .384 .691 87
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
L. Jackson 33 40 38 19 24 11 0 298 273 128 108 17 59 151 3.26 118
B. Gibson 28 40 36 17 18 13 1 287 250 106 96 25 86 245 3.01 128
A. Jackson* 28 34 31 7 11 11 0 170 183 94 78 15 44 90 4.13 93
D. Hughes 26 21 15 2 5 4 0 95 94 45 35 7 46 60 3.32 116
R. Sadecki* 23 13 8 4 6 5 0 71 70 30 29 3 20 36 3.68 104
R. Washburn 26 15 10 0 3 5 2 60 60 29 27 7 17 28 4.05 95
M. Cuellar* 27 16 7 1 3 4 1 48 55 32 26 6 21 35 4.88 79
H. Fanok 24 11 6 1 1 3 0 41 40 32 26 3 33 31 5.71 67
L. McDaniel 28 57 0 0 1 6 15 85 93 43 37 4 22 67 3.92 98
E. Fisher 27 53 5 0 6 3 7 117 96 51 46 12 24 63 3.54 109
B. Shantz* 38 50 0 0 2 5 1 61 54 26 22 5 19 42 3.25 118
B. Henry* 36 37 0 0 2 2 6 52 33 11 6 2 12 28 1.04 370
G. Richardson* 25 19 6 1 4 3 1 47 40 18 12 2 15 28 2.30 167
Others 0 0 1 0 0 13 24 12 7 2 7 8 4.85 79
Total 162 52 87 75 34 1445 1365 657 555 110 425 912 3.46 111
* Throws left
Fanok struggles, and right-hander Ray Washburn is again bedeviled by arm trouble, so two more newcomers make mid-season debuts: 26-year-old rookie right-hander Dick Hughes (who does well), and 27-year-old nomadic southpaw Mike Cuellar (who doesn’t).
Larry Jackson and Bob Gibson, the pair of burly horses leading our staff, both come through big-time, each with his best season yet. Despite the significant churn at the back end of the rotation, our pitching overall is excellent, definitely capable of supporting a serious contender.
But our hitting isn’t, despite the fact that Brock is sensational, blossoming into stardom immediately upon arrival, and Bill White delivers his customary strong season. There just isn’t enough firepower surrounding them. Felipe Alou limps through the year with a sore knee. Lee Thomas, though rebounding from his bad 1963, doesn’t hit with the authority he displayed in 1961-62. And Jim Davenport fails to rebound from his disappointing 1963.
The strong pitching (plus some good luck with Pythag, outperforming our projected record by five wins) yields an 87-75 record, our best since 1960. But that’s still a couple of weeks’ worth of wins short of the flag. We’re far from a bad team, but we don’t seem to be capable of taking that big step upward.
Next time
We’ll find out if this Cincinnati juggernaut can reach the 100-victory circle five times in a row, if there’s anything our Giants can do to overtake them, and if our Cardinals will once again observe from afar.
Giants: Actual Reds: Actual Cardinals: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 80 74 3 727 698 76 78 4 695 623 72 82 5T 619 704
1959 83 71 3 705 613 74 80 5T 764 738 71 83 7 641 725
1960 79 75 5 671 631 67 87 6 640 692 86 68 3 639 616
1961 85 69 3 773 655 93 61 1 710 653 80 74 5 703 668
1962 103 62 1 878 690 98 64 3 802 685 84 78 6 774 664
1963 88 74 3 725 641 86 76 5 648 594 93 69 2 747 628
1964 90 72 4 656 587 92 70 2T 660 566 93 69 1 715 652
Giants: Virtual Reds: Virtual Cardinals: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 83 71 2T 747 692 73 81 5 683 637 77 77 4 640 677
1959 87 67 1T 737 615 87 67 1T 802 662 84 70 4 725 685
1960 93 61 1 709 561 76 78 6 705 666 86 68 4 661 632
1961 88 66 2 787 648 106 48 1 813 629 72 82 6 689 724
1962 103 59 1 800 632 101 61 2T 779 663 84 78 6 809 703
1963 97 65 3 726 578 100 62 1 704 540 80 82 6 664 668
1964 100 62 2 726 576 101 61 1 689 533 87 75 4 662 657
Steve:
Fascinating stuff, as always. Just noticing in your review section at the top, the actual 1961 Reds had quite an imoprovement over 1960, year over year. But, man, your ‘61 Reds virtual team improved by 30 games! Has this actually ever been done?
Thanks again for all your hard work and research
Hey Steve, I hadn’t posted yet, but I love this series. Unfortunately, I probably would have to fire you as GM of the Cards…unless some real fun is about to happen!
I know, I know, my job in St. Louis is dangling by a thread. I’m sweating it out, believe me.
But without giving anything way, just understand this: I’m going to take some high-risk, high-reward action again this upcoming offseason, and it just might pay some serious dividends.
“… your ‘61 Reds virtual team improved by 30 games! Has this actually ever been done?”
Well, yes. The Detroit Tigers improved by 30 wins from 1960 to ‘61 (aided by the move from a 154-game schedule to a 162-game schedule, of course).
It’s at the very high end of historical normality, that’s for sure. (In the case of both the actual ‘60-‘61 Reds’ 24-win improvement, and our version’s 30-win improvement, greatly underperforming against Pythag in 1960 and greatly overperforming against it in ‘61 really helped.)
Steve:
Just noticed ‘62 Phillies, aided by 162 game schedule and the NY Mets and Houston Colt 45’s AAA ballclubs, improved by 30 1/2 games over 1961. Without checking, I believe they may have gone 17-1 and 14-4 respectively against these two newcomers…
But, the Reds of 1961 improved dramatically without the benefit of neither expansion and increased number of games
“your ‘61 Reds virtual team improved by 30 games! Has this actually ever been done?”
The Arizona Diamondbacks improved by 35 games from 1998 to 1999.