Thursday, July 25, 2024

Player Google Sheet Updated for All-Time Great Teams

Our original 60 all-time great teams have now all played at least one game, and you can still find all players, instructions and results on this google sheet.

In the 30 games between aces of two of the teams, the calibration showed we were getting almost one hit less per game per team than should be accurate. To fix this we have added two singles to only the PITCHERS' CARDS which are now reflected on the google doc above, but not yet on the PDFs which we will adjust.

As a result of being about one hit short, teams were averaging 2.9 runs per game in those games and even in a game between aces that should be slightly higher, so will be fixed by this adjustment. If you already printed the PDFs of teams you can just add 2 to each pitcher's highest single number remembering to skip any number that ends in a 9 or 0 since it is a base 8 system. 

So if it now says the highest single is a 16, make it 18 - if it says 17 make it 21 - if it says 18 make it 22 etc.

Half the teams also had their No. 4 starters face off and in those 15 games the average score was 4.7, so the overall runs per game will increase as we now have all non-aces pitching plus the two extra hits on the card should give each team an average of 1 extra hit per game. We have played two games using this adjustment, and in one game a team got 2 extra hits, in another game 1 extra hit, and the other two teams had no extra hits.

Also corrected on the google sheet were several pitcher at bat team cards. In a few occasions we accidentally had listed a "19" as a deep drive, and that number does not exist in the base-8 game so those were all changed to 21 on the google sheet and will be on the PDFs later.

Also we had left off the pitcher at bat card for the 1968 Detroit Tigers and 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers, so those are both added.

Finally we fixed Josh Hader to LHP - showing he is a left-handed pitcher - since he had been listed as RHP accidentally.


Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Card Adjustment and 2012 Giants Get Revenge on 2002 Angels; Soto and Turner Injured

 Click here for links to the 60 all-time great Statis-Pro baseball teams. We did make a couple of changes not reflected in each of these cards used for the first time in our final 2 debit games. For all pitchers, add 2 hits remembering there is no 19 of 20 random number, so if the pitchers top single allowed is a 17, change it to 21,.and 18 change not to 22, but a 21 change to 23. If they have any balk numbers move them up the same number as the hits were moved, but no other ranges need to change.

Second, some pitcher at bat cards have a "19" as a deep drive, a number that does not exist, so just make it a 21. We also noted we sometimes have a number listed twice on a batter result, and know you always take the result of the first number to the left. So if a 27 is the number for a double then the result is a double, even if we accidentally listed the 27 again in the triple or homer range. And lastly Josh Hader is somehow listed as an RHP, right handed pitcher, and obviously he is LHP. 

With that being covered, the 2012 San Francisco Giants got revenge on the 2002 Anaheim Angels for their come back would series win that year over the Giants.

The adjustment above gave no extra hits to the Angels, but did give two extra hits to the Giants though neither resulted in another run. Jarrod Washburn drew a 22 when facing Marco Scutaro in the first, and since his top single allowed is 21 on the card that increased by 2 to 23 and the 22 became a single. However on the next play third baseman Trau Glaus made a diving stop due to his cd-5 to prevent a hot with men on the corners.

In the 7th inning Scot Shields drew an 18 when facing Buster Posey, and with the new adjustment his card was changed from 16 to 18 to give Posey a single. Glaus came to the rescue again with a double play grounder to end the inning, but as you can see from the Sheetz the Giants did win 5-3.

Teams should average about 1 extra hit per game under this new adjustment - a calibration for being very slightly off in the pitcher card formulas.



The last debut game with be the Nationals vs Rays. The 2019 Nats were the only team to win a World Series despite losing all their home games and they kept that streak going in our simulation with a 7-1 loss to Tampa that made them look cursed in their home park.

In the top of the first Trea Turner and Juan Soto collided and were both injured - meaning we had to sub the top two hitters before they had batted once. The both have to miss the second game of the series at Tampa under our league rules that injuries just last for the 2-game.series.

In the second game since adding two hits to all pitchers cards it once again did not affect the final. Max Scherzer gave up one extra single because of it, but no runs.

And that is it - we have played all 60 great teams in the game at least once!




Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Verlander 2-hits Rangers, Big Unit Falters At Mile High

 Both the 2001 Diamondbacks that ended the last dynasty (Yankees) and the 2022 Astros missed several scoring opportunities, but Justin Verlander was able to win nonetheless while the Big Unit was dominant in Mile High until he 6th inning.

The Astros left bases loaded in the 2nd and 3rd inning and both Jeremy Pena and Yuli Gurriel sent deep drives to the wall, but Jose Altuves 2-run Homer was enough. Justin Verlander allowed on 2 hits and a walk through innings and Bryan Abreu, who in the game has a better card than actual closer Ryan Pressly, wrapped it up.

2007 Colorado 4, 2001 Arizona 2

In Colorado, Randy Johnson, the Big Unit, was spectacular for five innings, allowing only 1 base runner though it was a homer to take a 2-1 lead into the 6th.

However the Rockies put together town singles to start the 6th, then Willie Tavares relatively easy to field.grounder got past second baseman Jay Bell due to his weak Clutch Defense 2 rating, and after the speedy Taveras stole second the Rockies were on their way to a 3-run inning and 4-2 win.





Monday, July 22, 2024

HS Classmate Woodson Stars Off Bench to Give 1988 Dodgers 2-1 Win Over 2022 Padres

We joke about the "Statis-Pro gods" making realistic things happen with the dice rolls or flips of the Fast Action Cards, but playing with the 1978 4-color fast action cards and board this coincidence takes the cake.

 In 1988, injuries to Dodgers third basemen brought my high school classmate Tracy Woodson to the majors for a magical run. He not only played behind Orel Hershiser's record scoreless string. When the Dodgers won the World Series it was Woodson on the photo seen round the world lifting Hershiser to start the celebration.

Here he is now as coach of the college Richmond Spiders.

In our simulated game against the 2022 Padres Woodson likewise ended up in the game during an unusual Z-play number 14 where multiple players are ejected. This play brought Woodson into the game as DH and in the top of the 7th inning with the score tied 1-1 and two outs Woodson came in and delivered a clutch single.

That was it as he left for speedy pinch runner Alfredo Griffin who stole second and then scored the game-winning run on Dave Anderson single for the 2-1 win. It made back-to-back Dodgers wins in our all-time West Great Division, as the Covid year Dodgers beat the feared 1989 Oakland A's despite homers by Mark McGuire and Dave Henderson. The box scores for both Dodgers wins are below.

I still vividly remember Woodson playing poker in the back of Latin Class at Benedictine High School in Richmond, and then the excitement of reading that he had 14 straight hits at NC State before heading to the pros.

Our school was more known for basketball, and he was the big shooter on our team that was ranked in the first ever national basketball rankings in the New York Post.

OK, more famous players delivered other runs. Steve Sax led of the game with a triple and scored for the Dodgers, the Manny Machado doubled in the bottom of the first and scored to make it 1-1, but the rest of the way it was only Woodson's hit that was the difference in the 2-1 win.

All the best relievers were used so the second game of number 4 starters and two tired bullpens should be higher scoring.

LAD 2, SDP 1      
Los Angeles Dodgers 1988            Pos       AB   R     H     RBI    Other
Steve Sax2B4110SB,3b
Kirk Gibson*LF40202b,sb
Pedro Guerrero3B4011 
Rick DempseyDH-C4000 
Mike MarshallRF4000 
John Shelby#CF4000 
Franklin Stubbs*1B2000ejected
Mickey Hatcher1B1000 
Mike Scioscia*C2000ejected
Tracy Woodson3B1010 
Alfredo Griffin#SS1100 
Dave AndersonSS2010 
Danny Heep*RF2011gw-rbi
       
1988 Dodgers PitchersIPHRERWK
Orel Hershiser5.331105
Jay Howell (W)0.710000
Alejandro Pena (H)110002
Brian Holton (S)100000
       
San Diego Padres 2022PosABRHRBIOther
Ha-Seong KimSS4000 
Manny Machado3B21202-2b
Juan Soto*RF4010 
Eric Hosmer*1B4011 
Jurickson Profar#CF4010 
Wil MyersLF4000 
Jake Cronenworth*2B4000 
Jose AzocarDH3010SB,3b
Austin NolaC2000 
       
2022 Padres pitchersIPHRERWK
Joe Musgrove (L)7622010
Josh Hader110002
Robert Suarez100010
       
       
LAD 4, Oak 2      
Oakland A's 1989PosABRHRBIOther
Rickey HendersonLF4010SB,3b
Jose CansecoRF4000 
Carney Lansford3B4000 
Mark McGwire1B3111HR
Dave HendersonCF4111HR
Terry SteinbachC4010 
Tony Phillips#2B3010 
Mike GallegoSS3000 
Pitcher bats 1989P2000 
Luis Polonia*PH1000 
       
1989 A's PitchersIPHRERWK
Mike Moore (L)5.374414
Todd Burns1.710002
Gene Nelson100001
       
LA Dodgers 2019-21PosABRHRBIOther
Mookie BettsRF4110 
AJ PollockLF4000 
Max Muncy*1B4011 
Will SmithC3010 
Justin Turner3B3010 
Austin BarnesC1100 
Corey Seager*SS41212b,3b
Cody Bellinger*CF3112HR
Enrique Hernandez2B3010 
Pitchers 2019-21P2000Sac
       
Dodgers 2019-21 pitchersIPHRERWK
Walker Buehler (W)8522012
Alex Vesia (S)100011





Covid Champ Dodgers Edge Earthquake Champ A's

 In a battle of the two teams whose seasons were disrupted, the 2020 Dodgers whose title occurred in a season where Dave were not allowed due to COVID, edged the Oakland A's whose title was disrupted by an earthquake before they could start Game 3 at San Francisco.

Walker Buehler was dominant with 12 strikeouts, no walks and only five hits allowed in 8 innings. However Dave Henderson ended his perfect game in the fifth inning and Mark McGuire added a home in the 5th to pull the A's within 4-2.

However Mookie Betts singled and scored on a Max Muncy single in the third to make it 1-0 LA Dodgers. In the sixth Justin Turner singled, Corey Seager doubled and Cody Bellinger homered for a 3-run inning and the Dodgers won 4-2.

Because 2020 was shortened we actually combined Dodgers stats from 2019 to 2021 for more accurate cards.





Saturday, July 20, 2024

Final 6 Debut Games Feature 6 of Greatest 100 Players of All-Time

The tracker of Statis-Pro baseball games between our all-time great 60 teams shows only six debut games still to be played. These will all feature the starting ace's for each team. Almost all the remaining starters are PB 2-8, usually the best rate for a starters since only the best relievers are usually in the top 5 percent of all pitchers based on WAR per innings pitched. We passed 50,000 unique visitors for the month July 20, the third time we have passed 50,000 as a monthly total (also happened in February and June of this year). We are on pace to set our all-time record today.

Colorado ace Mark Redman was just a PB 2-7 and Tampa's Scott Kazmire (still good but top 35%), while only the Astros Justin Verlander is the very unusual PB 2-9.

The only top 100 players of all time still to play in these final six games are 23. Rickey Henderson with his 1989 Oakland A's, 52. Clayton Kershaw and his 2019-21 LA Dodgers, 24. Randy Johnson and his 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, 97. Adrian Beltre and his 2011 Texas Rangers, 65. Max Scherzer and his 2019 Washington Nationals and Verlander at 72nd of all-time.

Here are the pitching match-ups for those final six debut games, with four games out west and two in the south.

You can always click here for all 60 great teams, or click on Team to See All Player Cards

West All-Time Great Teams

Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 (Starter Orel Hershiser PB 2-8, other great Kirk Gibson*) at San Diego Padres 2022 (Starter Joe Musgrove PB 2-8, other greats Manny Machado, Yu Darvish), Range on Deep Drives =  11-78 HR

Oakland A's 1989 (Starter Mike Moore PB 2-8, other greats 23. Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley) at Los Angeles Dodgers 2019-21 (Starter Walker Buhler PB 2-8, other greats 52. Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts), Range on Deep Drives =  11-58 HR

Arizona Diamondbacks 2001 (Starter 24. Randy Johnson PB 2-8, other greats Curt Schilling, Luis Gonzalez) at  Colorado Rockies 2007 (Starter Mark Redman PB 2-7, other greats Todd Helton*, Aaron Cook), Range on Deep Drives =  11-78 HR

Anaheim Angels 2002 (Starter Jarrod Washburn PB 2-8, other greats Garret Anderson* and Troy PercivalSan Francisco Giants 2012 (Starter Matt Cain PB 2-8, other great Buster Posey), Range on Deep Drives =  11-58 HR

 

South All-Time Great Teams

Texas Rangers 2011 (Starter CJ Wilson PB 2-8, other greats 97. Adrian Beltre, CJ Williams) at Houston Astros 2022 (Starter 72. Justin Verlander PB 2-9, other greats Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve), Range on Deep Drives =  11-78 HR

Tampa Bay Rays 2008 (Starter Scott Kazmir PB 2-7, other greats Evan Longoria, JP Howell) at  Washington Nationals 2019 (Starter 65. Max Scherzer PB 2-8, other great Juan Soto), Range on Deep Drives =  11-78 HR

Murray Slugs Orioles to 2nd Place Behind Maddux' Braves; Marlins Rally Falls Short

 Devon White came to the plate as the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th inning, already having three hits including a double, but reliever Don Maragiello escaped by catching him looking for a 6-4 win.

The 1983 Baltimore Orioles hero was Eddie Murray, who went three for four with a home run, a hard singled that skipped past the 1997 Florida Marlins Gary Sheffield, and an RBO single. Cal Ripken hit a deep drive that was caught at the wall. With teams averaging fewer than 3 runs a game in games between ace pitchers, this game was different with 21 total hits. When No. 4 starters have faced each other, teams average more than the all-time 4.5 runs per game in MLB history, but when great pitchers face great batters we would expect pitchers to have the edge in these Statis-Pro baseball games since they action starts on their cards, we'd expect it to be about 50-50 in Strat-o-Matic where it is is exactly 50-50 and we'd expect batters to have the edge in APBA where the action is usually based on the batter's card.

For second game in a row a player was ejected, and this time it actually seemed very logical. The Orioles had jumped on the sometimes hot-headed Kevin Brown in the 4th inning for Murray's home, then a walk by John Lowenstein and then and RBI double by Jim Dwyer, which led to Brown arguing and being ejected. Livan Hernandez did get MVP in the 1997 season with playoff dominance, but Brown was even better during the season hand has a slightly better card.

Mike Boddicker, with one of the greatest curve balls in history, was tagged for 8 hits in 7 innings pitched, including a leadoff single. He left after a lead off single in the 8th, but ace reliever Tippy Martinez ran out of endurance after allowing a 9th inning double by Cliff Johnson and then RBI single to Jeff Conine to make it 6-3. 

Needing only one out for the save Morogiello then allowed the 8th and 9th batters to reach, a walk by Kurt Abbott then RBI single by Edgar Renteria - who like Ripken had just missed a home run on a deep drive earlier, before finally catching lead off hitter White looking to escape with a very shake save and 6-4 win.

The 1995 Atlanta Braves are the only team in the South that is already 2-0, but the 1-0 mark and 2-plus margin puts these 1983 Orioles in 2nd place in the South.