The virtual 1971-1980 St. Louis Cardinals (Part 2)
Last time, we highlighted the series of remarkably questionable trades executed between 1970 and 1975 by the St. Louis Cardinals under owner Gussie Busch and General Manager Bing Devine. Now we’re ready to examine just how differently the St. Louis teams might have performed across the decade with those deals nullified.
1971
Led by the tremendous .363, 137-RBI MVP performance of third baseman Joe Torre, the actual 1971 Cardinals had a good year. They finished in second place at 90-72 (the most wins by any actual St. Louis ball club between 1968 and 1982), though they were a bit lucky to do that, with a Pythagorean record of 85-77.
Our version of the Cardinals would have only a few different players on the roster. But two of the differences would yield significant improvements. In the fifth starter/swingman role, Nelson Briles would displace Chris Zachary, and provide a 114 ERA+ instead of Zachary’s dreadful 68. Even more impactfully, Richie (as he was still then known) Allen’s 151 OPS+ would be in the lineup at first base in place of Joe Hague’s 101.
Even considering the fact that we’re taking Briles from the actual division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates, it isn’t certain whether these improved Cardinals would be able to overtake those Pirates, who won 97 games and had a Pythag mark of 101-61. But it is clear that the race would be far closer than it was. Our Cards would be, at least, a very strong contender.
1972
Now our Cardinals begin to truly deviate from the actual ball club, which dropped back to fourth place, at 75-81 (in that season’s strike-shortened schedule). In our scenario the Birds will be flying far higher than that.
Not that there wouldn’t be any challenges. Though he still hit well, Torre dropped off drastically from his scintillating form of 1971. And center fielder Jose Cruz, the terrific rookie of ’71, hit weakly as a sophomore.
But these setbacks would be more than offset by this roster’s strengths. Most dramatically, Allen would present the best season of his career, performing as the premier all-around hitter in the game. The big slugger would be amply supported by a deep and well-balanced attack, starting with the ever-dynamic leadoff hitter Lou Brock, and including the robust line drive hitting of catcher Ted Simmons and right fielder Jose Cardenal. The bench would feature two potent left-handed bats in Vic Davalillo and Bernie Carbo. It wouldn’t add up to the best offense in the league, but it would be a very good one.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B D. Allen 30 148 506 96 160 27 6 35 120 92 131 .316 .420 .601 1.021 189
2B C. Rojas 33 137 487 52 130 20 1 3 50 39 37 .267 .315 .331 .646 85
SS D. Maxvill 33 143 340 26 76 8 1 1 26 35 63 .224 .289 .262 .551 59
3B J. Torre 31 149 544 84 157 26 6 11 80 54 64 .289 .357 .419 .776 122
RF-CF J. Cardenal 28 123 411 69 119 18 6 11 49 42 45 .290 .354 .443 .797 127
CF J. Cruz* 24 117 332 40 78 14 4 2 23 36 54 .235 .307 .319 .627 80
LF L. Brock* 33 153 621 91 193 26 8 3 42 47 93 .311 .359 .393 .752 115
C T. Simmons# 22 152 594 72 180 36 6 16 99 29 57 .303 .336 .465 .801 127
RF-CF V. Davalillo* 35 78 184 28 57 8 1 2 18 12 24 .310 .353 .397 .750 114
RF B. Carbo* 24 66 151 21 38 7 1 3 19 26 29 .252 .365 .371 .736 111
SS-2B E. Crosby* 23 91 166 16 35 4 1 0 11 10 18 .211 .256 .247 .503 44
SS D. Anderson 24 57 135 13 36 4 1 1 8 8 23 .267 .313 .333 .646 85
OF L. Melendez 22 69 111 12 25 4 1 1 9 7 12 .225 .269 .306 .575 64
3B-OF B. Stein 25 34 71 6 20 2 1 2 6 2 15 .282 .286 .423 .708 100
C J. McNertney 35 39 48 3 10 3 1 0 9 6 16 .208 .291 .313 .603 73
Others 205 13 40 11 0 2 19 18 46 .195 .253 .278 .531 52
Pitchers 405 32 73 13 1 7 27 14 132 .180 .200 .269 .469 33
Total 5311 674 1427 231 46 100 615 477 859 .269 .326 .386 .712 103
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
S. Carlton* 27 37 37 27 28 5 0 311 226 71 63 15 75 281 1.82 188
B. Gibson 36 34 34 23 21 9 0 278 226 83 76 14 88 208 2.46 139
M. Torrez 25 34 29 10 14 8 0 194 172 76 70 11 82 90 3.25 106
J. Reuss* 23 33 15 2 7 8 2 128 113 62 53 8 57 119 3.73 92
R. Cleveland 24 29 17 4 8 7 1 116 112 55 46 10 29 79 3.57 96
N. Briles 28 42 11 3 9 7 4 131 118 52 42 8 30 83 2.89 119
D. Segui 34 33 0 0 3 1 12 56 47 23 19 2 32 54 3.07 112
A. Santorini 24 21 5 0 4 3 0 53 54 24 23 2 20 28 3.91 88
M. Drabowsky 36 37 0 0 1 1 5 35 35 15 10 4 16 26 2.57 133
L. Palmer 24 11 2 0 0 3 0 23 20 11 10 1 17 17 3.91 88
Others 6 0 3 6 1 80 75 43 36 6 41 49 4.05 85
Total 156 69 98 58 25 1405 1198 515 448 81 487 1034 2.87 120
* Throws left
With baseball’s best hitter of 1972 leading the run production, the pitching staff would correspondingly feature baseball’s best pitcher of 1972. At the age of 27, Steve Carlton would bust out with a breathtaking performance, one for the ages. Carlton was so spectacular that he would nudge longtime ace Bob Gibson, presenting his last great year, into No. 2 status. Rotation depth would be provided by Mike Torrez in a strong bounceback year, and impressive youngsters Jerry Reuss and Reggie Cleveland contributing solidly as swingmen.
The bullpen would be something of a patchwork, but it would be well-served by the versatile Briles, as well as good work from the veteran Diego Segui, a midseason bargain pickup. In any case, a staff that throws 69 complete games doesn’t ask much of its bullpen.
Overall the pitching would be extremely close to the best in the league, and would lead the ’72 Cards to a 98-win season, handily winning the NL East championship.
1973
This year would present problems aplenty. Allen would miss half the season with a broken leg. Gibson would miss most of the final two months with a knee injury. Carlton would suffer a big letdown performance. Torre would prove unable to regain his former elite-hitter status, and Cruz’s slump would drag on for yet another full year.
But the Baseball Gods would cut the 1973 Cardinals a big break. Remember that it was the 1973 National League East Division in which nobody wanted to win, with a rag-tag New York Mets team climbing out of the basement in late August, and riding a hot September to the title with a meager 82-79 record. The actual Cardinals came in second at 81-81, despite a Pythagorean record of 86-76, the best in the division.
Our version of the Cards, problems and all, would benefit from the contributions of Allen and the others, and would be meaningfully better than their real-life counterparts. Thus though it would be in far less impressive fashion than in the previous season, we can say with confidence that St. Louis would be repeating as the division champ.
1974
The repeat champ of ’73 would only be better in ’74.
Allen’s season would end in early September with another leg injury, but his performance up to that point would be superb. All the other familiar offensive contributors would be back in fine form, and they’d be joined by a new one in speedy center fielder Bake McBride. All in all it would be a deep and flexible lineup, among the better run production outfits in the league.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B D. Allen 32 128 462 85 141 22 2 30 91 54 92 .305 .375 .556 .932 159
2B C. Rojas 35 144 542 52 148 16 1 5 51 29 44 .273 .306 .334 .640 80
SS M. Tyson 24 151 422 35 94 14 5 1 37 22 70 .223 .264 .287 .551 55
3B-1B J. Torre 33 147 476 53 134 25 1 10 63 62 79 .282 .370 .401 .771 117
RF B. Carbo* 26 117 338 40 85 19 0 10 52 55 93 .251 .361 .396 .757 113
CF-LF B. McBride* 25 135 478 72 154 18 5 5 47 39 44 .322 .379 .412 .792 122
LF L. Brock* 35 153 635 105 194 25 7 3 48 61 88 .306 .368 .381 .749 110
C T. Simmons# 24 152 599 66 163 33 6 20 101 47 35 .272 .327 .447 .774 116
RF-CF J. Cardenal 30 102 346 51 102 22 3 7 37 37 41 .295 .361 .436 .797 123
3B K. Reitz 23 77 193 16 50 9 1 2 17 7 23 .259 .284 .347 .631 77
OF J. Cruz* 26 107 161 24 42 4 3 5 20 20 27 .261 .341 .416 .757 112
C-1B T. McCarver* 32 85 134 16 30 1 1 0 12 26 7 .224 .347 .246 .593 69
SS-2B E. Crosby* 25 84 154 18 33 5 0 0 9 12 19 .214 .269 .247 .516 46
CF L. Melendez 24 83 124 15 27 4 3 0 8 11 9 .218 .283 .298 .581 63
SS-2B J. DaVanon 28 30 40 4 6 1 0 0 4 4 5 .150 .255 .175 .430 23
Others 144 19 35 3 2 1 10 20 28 .243 .335 .313 .648 83
Pitchers 411 30 77 11 2 0 25 13 111 .187 .200 .224 .423 19
Total 5659 701 1515 232 42 99 632 519 815 .268 .328 .376 .705 98
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
S. Carlton* 29 35 35 15 17 11 0 262 222 100 87 18 120 218 2.99 122
B. Gibson 38 33 33 9 11 13 0 240 236 111 102 24 104 129 3.83 95
J. Reuss* 25 35 24 9 11 9 0 184 183 82 72 14 72 77 3.52 104
L. McGlothen 24 31 21 5 11 8 1 158 137 51 45 7 59 98 2.56 142
M. Torrez 27 32 20 4 10 7 0 135 130 60 49 7 62 69 3.27 112
J. Curtis* 26 33 19 3 7 9 1 130 129 59 53 9 55 61 3.67 99
R. Folkers* 27 55 0 0 6 2 3 90 65 31 30 4 38 57 3.00 122
A. Hrabosky* 24 65 0 0 8 1 10 88 71 34 29 3 38 82 2.95 123
M. Garman 24 64 0 0 7 2 7 82 66 26 24 4 27 45 2.64 138
N. Briles 30 27 6 1 3 5 1 69 74 28 27 4 15 29 3.52 104
Others 3 0 1 2 0 35 37 26 23 3 27 19 5.91 62
Total 161 46 92 69 23 1473 1350 608 541 97 617 884 3.31 110
* Throws left
But once again it would be the pitching as the Cardinals’ strongest suit. Gibson finally began to show his age, but Carlton would anchor the staff with a very strong year. And no fewer than four young pitchers would capably compete for the rest of the starts: Reuss and Torrez, plus Lynn McGlothen and John Curtis, a couple of newcomers acquired from Boston.
And all would be supported by a rock-solid bullpen fronted by the very colorful and very hard-throwing “Mad Hungarian,” Al Hrabosky.
Again this season the NL East wouldn’t present a whole lot of competition for the Cardinals, and they would cruise to another flag.
1975-1976
It was in mid-September of 1974 that Dick Allen abruptly announced his “retirement,” setting in motion a nasty negotiation in which his team (the Chicago White Sox) eventually felt forced to trade him for a token return. While it’s impossible to know if Allen would have pulled exactly the same stunt with St. Louis, given his track record it’s unrealistic for us to imagine there would be no shenanigans. So to be fair, our Cardinals will have to bid adieu to their best hitter at this point, and assume nothing substantial is received in exchange.
This would open up first base, and we can assume that our Cardinals would ease in young Keith Hernandez as the regular in 1975-76, as they actually did. And this would be part of a general reworking of the roster, as several key players “aged out” in this period. Gibson hit the end of the line and retired. Torre was traded away as he was winding down. Cookie Rojas would be phased out as the regular second baseman, with Mike Tyson moving over from shortstop to second when young Garry Templeton arrived to take over at short.
The actual Cardinals were mediocre in 1975, at 82-80 (overperforming against Pythag by four wins), and pretty bad in ’76, at 72-90 (underperforming against Pythag by four wins). Our version would be significantly better than that, of course, especially on the pitching side, with Carlton, Torrez and Reuss in the starting rotation, and Ron Reed in the bullpen in 1976.
Whether our Cardinals would be improved enough to eclipse the division-winning Pirates in 1975 (who went 92-69, but would now be without Reuss) or the division-winning Phillies in ’76 (who went 101-61, but would now be without Carlton and Reed) is a good question. There are a few too many moving parts in the scenario to answer it with certainty, but we are safe in saying that if St. Louis didn’t win the NL East in either of these seasons, they’d come pretty close.
1977
Our Cardinals ball club would be resolidified with Hernandez and Templeton established as stars, and the fully mature Jose Cruz performing excellently as well. Catcher Simmons, still only 27 years old, remained highly productive in the middle of the order.
This offense would have its issues, as Brock and Cardenal were finally in decline, and Tyson at second base and Ken Reitz at third were defense-first regulars. But Carbo’s booming bat would provide a big lift off the bench, and while this team wouldn’t present the league’s best offense, it would be better than most.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B K. Hernandez* 23 161 560 90 163 41 4 15 92 79 88 .291 .379 .459 .837 125
2B M. Tyson 27 138 418 42 103 15 2 7 57 30 48 .246 .299 .342 .641 73
SS G. Templeton# 21 153 621 89 200 19 18 8 79 15 70 .322 .336 .449 .786 110
3B K. Reitz 26 157 587 58 153 36 1 17 79 19 74 .261 .291 .412 .703 88
RF-LF J. Cruz* 29 157 579 98 178 33 10 20 85 69 67 .307 .374 .503 .876 134
CF-LF J. Mumphrey# 24 130 370 58 104 16 8 2 28 38 56 .281 .349 .384 .733 98
LF L. Brock* 38 127 440 62 121 20 5 2 42 27 67 .275 .320 .357 .677 82
C T. Simmons# 27 150 516 82 164 25 3 21 96 79 37 .318 .408 .500 .908 144
RF B. Carbo* 29 86 228 36 67 6 1 12 30 44 70 .294 .407 .487 .893 140
LF-RF J. Cardenal 33 80 181 25 42 10 1 2 13 22 24 .232 .316 .331 .647 75
CF B. McBride* 28 43 122 21 32 5 1 4 20 7 19 .262 .298 .418 .716 91
C J. Tamargo# 25 60 118 13 25 3 1 3 12 16 16 .212 .307 .331 .637 72
2B C. Rojas 38 64 104 5 25 6 1 0 6 5 14 .240 .273 .317 .590 59
CF T. Scott# 25 63 97 19 26 4 1 1 10 10 18 .268 .339 .361 .700 89
2B-SS D. Kessinger# 34 59 67 7 15 2 1 0 8 7 17 .224 .293 .284 .577 57
2B-SS M. Phillips* 26 48 58 11 13 2 1 0 5 6 9 .224 .308 .293 .601 63
3B-LF H. Cruz 24 24 34 4 6 2 0 1 3 4 7 .176 .256 .324 .580 55
Others 73 7 15 0 0 1 6 6 15 .205 .272 .247 .518 41
Pitchers 368 26 68 12 0 3 30 17 109 .185 .205 .242 .447 20
Total 5541 753 1520 257 59 119 701 500 825 .274 .332 .406 .738 98
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
S. Carlton* 32 36 36 17 22 11 0 283 229 96 80 23 91 198 2.54 153
M. Torrez 30 35 35 17 16 13 0 243 235 109 101 20 82 107 3.74 104
J. Reuss* 28 31 26 5 9 9 0 166 175 81 70 8 57 95 3.80 103
E. Rasmussen 25 32 23 6 8 10 0 155 145 65 56 14 42 82 3.25 120
B. Forsch 27 33 23 4 14 4 0 145 137 62 53 12 46 65 3.29 119
R. Reed 34 60 3 0 7 5 16 124 101 40 37 8 37 84 2.69 145
A. Hrabosky* 27 65 0 0 6 5 12 86 82 44 42 12 41 68 4.38 89
N. Briles 33 28 3 0 4 1 1 54 55 25 22 5 15 31 3.67 106
T. Underwood* 23 21 4 0 2 3 0 50 48 26 24 2 29 37 4.32 90
J. Urrea 22 21 2 0 3 1 1 46 39 16 14 3 12 29 2.74 142
P. Falcone* 23 16 2 0 1 3 0 41 41 24 23 5 20 27 5.05 77
J. Denny 24 13 4 0 2 1 0 30 33 17 15 2 12 12 4.50 87
Others 1 0 2 0 0 24 26 14 12 2 11 15 4.50 87
Total 162 49 96 66 30 1447 1346 619 549 116 495 850 3.41 114
* Throws left
As in previous years, pitching would lead the way for St. Louis. Carlton would deliver one of his greatest seasons. The rotation behind him of Torrez and Reuss, plus up-and-comers Eric Rasmussen and Bob Forsch, would be without weakness.
The bullpen would be less impressive, as Hrabosky suffered an off-year. But the durable and steady Reed would pick up the slack, and overall the staff would be among the league’s finest.
This season we can conclude with confidence that the NL East flag would again fly over Busch Stadium.
1978-1979
Following the 1977 season, Mike Torrez opted for free agency, and signed with the Boston Red Sox (for whom he would be pitching when he surrendered an early October home run to a certain Bucky F. Dent). In our scenario, we can’t assume the Cardinals would be able to keep him, so Torrez will be gone from this roster beginning in 1978.
So our Cardinals would that much more closely resemble the actual St. Louis ball clubs in these years, which finished fifth in ’78, and third in ’79. But our version retains a few very significant advantages, especially Carlton and Cruz, as well as Reuss and Reed.
As had been the case in 1975-76, it’s tricky to sort through all the contingencies involving not just the Cards, but also the Phillies (who won the division in ’78) and Pirates (who won it in ’79), as well as the Montreal Expos (who suddenly emerged as a strong contender in ’79), to determine the champions in these years. One suspects that St. Louis would fall short in our scenario, but not by anything resembling their actual wide margins.
1980
Previous Cardinals teams here featured good-but-not-great-hitting. Not this time: The 1980 version in our scenario would present a dominant offense, clearly the best in the league. And this ball club would accomplish this feat despite having one of its expected major cogs suffer a disastrous performance: Bobby Bonds, acquired in a major offseason trade, utterly fell off the cliff.
But just about everyone else would hit splendidly. Hernandez and Simmons were both tremendous, and Cruz was nearly as good. Center fielder George Hendrick, who’d been picked up in a very shrewd trade in mid-1978, was excellent as well. Shortstop Templeton and second baseman Ken Oberkfell would deliver exceptionally good middle-infield offense.
The team total of 302 doubles would be the most whacked by any National League team since 1939.
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B K. Hernandez* 26 159 595 114 191 39 8 16 101 86 73 .321 .408 .494 .902 147
2B K. Oberkfell* 24 116 422 58 128 27 6 3 46 51 23 .303 .377 .417 .794 119
SS G. Templeton# 24 118 504 79 161 19 9 4 49 18 43 .319 .342 .417 .759 108
3B K. Reitz 29 151 523 41 141 33 0 8 61 22 44 .270 .300 .379 .679 86
RF B. Bonds 34 77 208 29 42 4 3 5 25 30 67 .202 .305 .322 .627 73
CF-RF G. Hendrick 30 150 572 76 173 33 2 25 115 32 67 .302 .342 .498 .840 129
LF-RF J. Cruz* 32 160 612 114 192 31 7 14 66 60 66 .314 .371 .456 .826 127
C T. Simmons# 30 145 495 85 150 33 2 21 104 59 45 .303 .375 .505 .880 141
2B-SS T. Herr# 24 76 222 25 55 12 5 0 15 16 21 .248 .299 .347 .646 77
C-LF T. Kennedy* 24 67 198 23 50 10 2 3 27 22 27 .253 .321 .369 .690 90
LF-RF D. Iorg* 30 84 201 25 61 18 1 2 33 16 27 .303 .350 .433 .783 115
RF-1B L. Durham* 22 64 152 19 39 7 2 4 20 8 29 .257 .291 .408 .699 91
CF T. Scott# 28 72 138 20 33 6 1 0 8 10 25 .239 .285 .297 .582 61
INF M. Phillips* 29 63 128 13 30 5 0 0 7 9 17 .234 .283 .273 .556 54
INF M. Ramsey# 26 59 126 11 33 8 1 0 8 3 17 .262 .279 .341 .620 70
Others 123 11 25 3 1 0 8 7 26 .203 .250 .244 .494 37
Pitchers 409 29 73 14 0 4 27 11 117 .178 .183 .242 .425 16
Total 5628 772 1577 302 50 109 720 460 734 .280 .331 .410 .740 103
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
S. Carlton* 35 38 38 13 25 8 0 304 247 87 79 14 90 283 2.34 162
J. Reuss* 31 37 29 10 20 5 3 229 205 78 68 12 40 111 2.67 141
P. Vuckovich 27 32 30 7 13 8 1 222 203 96 84 18 68 132 3.41 111
B. Forsch 30 31 31 8 12 9 0 215 225 102 90 12 33 87 3.77 100
J. Fulgham 24 15 14 4 5 5 0 85 66 33 32 7 32 48 3.39 112
S. Martinez 24 25 12 1 4 6 0 80 82 48 41 5 32 26 4.61 82
R. Reed 37 55 0 0 8 4 13 82 78 40 36 4 27 50 3.95 96
J. Kaat* 41 35 0 0 4 1 5 40 36 16 14 1 13 16 3.15 120
D. Hood* 30 25 0 0 2 3 0 39 42 17 13 0 22 16 3.00 126
B. Sykes* 25 9 2 0 1 2 0 25 27 13 13 2 11 10 4.68 81
Littlefield 26 17 0 0 2 2 3 22 24 10 8 1 7 7 3.27 116
J. Urrea 25 10 0 0 2 0 1 22 19 9 8 1 14 12 3.27 116
M. Littell 27 14 0 0 0 2 2 11 14 11 11 2 7 7 9.00 42
Others 6 0 4 5 2 73 71 35 33 3 25 38 4.07 93
Total 162 43 102 60 30 1449 1339 595 530 82 421 843 3.29 115
* Throws left
Not to be outdone, our 1980 Cardinals pitching would be the league’s best as well. At the top of the rotation, the amazing Carlton, at 35, would achieve his most spectacular season since his 1972 tour de force. Right behind him would be Reuss in career-best form, and right-handers Pete Vuckovich and Bob Forsch would give the Cards two more good starters with well over 200 innings each.
That would be fortunate, because the bullpen would have some issues due to erstwhile ace Mark Littell bombing out with arm trouble. But with Reed on hand, and some improvising with several others, the relief work would be adequate to yield the NL’s top overall staff ERA+.
The result would be a runaway division champion. Those 102 victories would be the most tallied by a St. Louis team since the ultra-dominant three-peat wartime Stan Musial Cardinals of the 1940s.
Summing up
The St. Louis franchise is one of the National League’s flagships, with a long history rich in vivid color and great success. From Branch Rickey’s rowdy Gashouse Gang, to Whitey Herzog’s razor-sharp speed demons, to the methodical and consistent excellence led by Tony LaRussa and Albert Pujols, the Cardinals have often been among the league’s elite.
But the 1970s stand out as one of the few decades in which that wasn’t the case. The Cards weren’t a bad team in that period, but contending status persistently eluded them, as they seemed stuck on an also-ran treadmill.
This counter-factual exercise demonstrates how strongly that didn’t have to be. We haven’t introduced a single acquisition the Cardinals didn’t make, but simply cancelled the most egregious of their excessive trades of the early-to-mid-1970s, and the results are stunning: an obvious division champion in 1972, ’73, ’74, ’77, and ’80, and possibly achieving flags in every other season. They simply never would have been out of contention for at least 10 years straight.
Job well done again Steve. Looking forward to your next article. If you’re looking for ideas, would be curious as to how the Indians of the past decade would have done had they not traded Brian Giles, Sean Casey, etc.
Thanks for the kind words. The Indians are on the list, but the Expos are ahead of them in line.
Really enjoy your articles, especially “The Virtual” series. I was wondering if the 1970’s Mets were on the list considering that many people believe that if Hodges had never passed they would have at least one more flag flying and the fact that they traded both Ryan, Singleton and Otis in 1971. I know that some years they finished pretty far out of the race but I think with the additions of Singleton, Ryan, Otis and a few other useful players (Gentry, Folkers, Capra) they would be a lot better.
Yeah, the 1970s Mets are clearly a good candidate, with Ryan, Otis, and Singleton. Honestly the reason I’ve never done them is that they’re so well known to be obvious that I’m pretty sure other folks have written articles along that line before; I seem to recall seeing one by Alex Belth fairly recently.
Good point. I didn’t see his article, do you mind sending me a link or something?
Thanks again for doing this one. I knew we would have won a few more division titles, but I didn’t realize just how many we could have won.
This is ridiculously awesome stuff Steve, look forward to reading others!
“I didn’t see his article, do you mind sending me a link or something?”
Dang, I’ve just tried to find it via google, not having any luck. It was a couple of months ago, I think, and he did something similar to what I’ve done in this series with the early 1970s Mets, only without (of course) my anal attention to detail. It was linked at BBTF.
I’m puzzled at the OPS+ category in this article. There’s several seasons where you refer to the Cardinals’ good offense, and show the team’s OPS+ at 98; there’s another where you show them leading the league in both slugging and on-base percentages, and yet with a team OPS+ of 103.
That’s when I realized it seemed to be a systematic error in that stat, as it looked at first like a problem with the article. But if you can fix whatever’s wrong, that would be a minor-yet-cool improvement.
“I’m puzzled at the OPS+ category in this article. There’s several seasons where you refer to the Cardinals’ good offense, and show the team’s OPS+ at 98; there’s another where you show them leading the league in both slugging and on-base percentages, and yet with a team OPS+ of 103.”
I use the OPS+ stat as it’s calculated on bb-ref.com. A while back (I think a year ago or so), bb-ref changed the manner in which it calculates OPS+, removing pitcher batting stats from the league norm to which each individual’s OPS is compared.
Therefore, while the league OPS+ in a DH league remains 100 (or very nearly so), in a non-DH league the league-average OPS+ is now usually around 93 or 94. Thus in such a league, a team OPS+ of 98 is good, and a team OPS+ of 103 is excellent, and can sometimes lead the league.