Value Add Basketball Rankings as Early As Sunday

 As we turn our attention to college basketball, we've started to receive questions about if we will continue to calculated and post the Value Add Basketball rankings for players. The answer is yes, but the problem is we really need all 363 teams to play at least one game against a Division I team so their players appear at www.kenpom.com.

Most teams have already played a D1 opponents, and a bunch more play their first game Friday.

Here is the schedule for the teams playing their first D1 game:

Date	Last Teams -1st Game	Opponent	Teams Played
11-Nov	344 teams already	played by 11-11	344
12-Nov	Arkansas St.	LSU	345
12-Nov	Ball St.	Indiana St.	346
12-Nov	Binghamton	Marist	347
12-Nov	Bucknell	Niagra	348
12-Nov	Cal St. Northridge	Utah Tech	349
12-Nov	Georgia St.	Georgia Tech	350
12-Nov	High Point	Wofford	351
12-Nov	Middle Tennessee	Winthrop	352
12-Nov	New Mexico St.	UTEP	353
12-Nov	SIU Edwardsville	Purdue Ft. Wayne	354
12-Nov	Tennessee State	South Carolina State	355
12-Nov	Wofford	High Point	356
13-Nov	North Texas	Saint Mary's	357
14-Nov	Jacksonville St.	Illinois Chicago	358
14-Nov	Troy	Florida State	359
15-Nov	Prairie View A&M	Washington State	360
16-Nov	Missouri State	BYU	361
17-Nov	Samford	Alabama A&M	362
18-Nov	Coastal Carolina	USC Upstate	363

With 356 of 363 teams having played Division I games by Saturday night, we may try to run the first rankings Sunday by subbing the last seven teams players from last year as placeholders.

We will post here once rankings appear.

Ted Williams Blasts Yankees to Close Statis-Pro Season - Basketball Next

 Ted Williams homered in his first at bat and again in the nightcap to lead his 1946 Red Sox past the 1961 Yankees 8-1 and 9-4.

This was the one Williams' Red Sox team that dominated the Yankees, going 104-50 to finish 17 games ahead of the Yankees.

 When Whitey Ford pitched the second game, four of the top 100 players of all time were in the game (Mantle and Berra as well as Williams and Ford), from the historic year that Maris hit 61 homers.

However the 1961 Yanks are one of the weaker teams in our 12-game loaded New York-Boston Division, which has 6 of the top 7 players in history.

Next we move back to college basketball - basically we do baseball from opening day until the World Series each year and the college basketball from opening tip (tomorrow night) through March Madness.

Transition Day from Statis-Pro Baseball (Maris & Yankees vs. Williams and Red Sox) ... to Value Add Basketball

With the World Series ending last night, and college basketball tipping off tomorrow night, this is our transition day between Statis-Pro Baseball and Value Add Basketball.

We decided we should close out with a Yankees-Red Sox all-time game, and chose Ted Williams 1946 Boston Red Sox - the one year he came close to the World Series title before a Game 7 loss - vs. the Yankees team on which Roger Maris hit 61 home runs to break Babe Ruth's record.

This game is in our "New York-Boston Division" - including the two cities that dominated so much of baseball history. When Whitey Ford pitches in the second game of the double header, the Yankees will have three of the top 100 players of all-time (see below, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Ford).  The division includes five of the top seven players of all time including Ted Williams as the 5th greatest of all time. The top 13 players of all time and many of the top 100 are included in our game. Mike Trout at 14th is the only player not included - as we just couldn't justify any of his Angels teams.

You may notice a "add to 11-88 RN" for a couple of players including starters Roy Partee's +2 and Bob Cerv's +1. This is a new number we've added when a player has a great hitting card without enough plate appearances to really justify the card. We let the card be used, but when the action is on their card the RN number is increased by that number. When doing this, do not change for left vs right on the 11, 12, 88 etc. The biggest number in the game is Matt Carpenter this year for the Yankees, who is a +8 because his actual stats were unbelievable this year but on very few plate appearances. Therefore, if he had an 11 on his card, it would be a 21 since that is actually 8 numbers in the base system (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21 - since no 18 or 19), etc.

If you click here, one table includes all the batters, another tab the pitchers and a third tab with info on the 60 all-time great teams. Click here for the free Statis-Pro game, or on the Value Add Basketball Game of all-time great college teams. 

Astros Johnson Shuts Down Big Red Machine for Split

 As I celebrated the Astros real World Series, I decided to go back and play them the year I was so sure they would win - 1998.

Their opponent, the Big Red Machine of 1975.

Randy Johnson (1.28 ERA that year) combined with Billy Wagner for a 3-2 win in 11 innings.

In the second game the Reds scored 2 in the 4th inning on hits by Geronimo, Concepcion (a double) and Morgan.

In the next inning Rose led off with a double, and then Foster hit a ball down the third base line that turned into a RBI single when Sean Berry did not come up with a clutch snag. 

Bench then homered in the 8th for a 4-0 lead. The Astros loaded the bases in the 8th for Bagwell, but he flied out. Derek Bell hit a solo shot in the 9th to avoid the shutout, but it was still a 4-1 Reds win.

Bench set the tone when Biggio singled to lead off the first, and Bench picked him off.

Cobb Slugs Carlton, but Schmidt and 1980 Phillies Sweep 1909 Tigers

Mike Schmidt's 1980 Phillies swept the 1909 Detroit Tigers 12-8 and 4-2 in a Statis-Pro game after the current Phillies fell just 2 games short of the real World title Saturday. The other 2 all-time top 100 players considered by some the nastiest superstars, matched up three times with Ty Cobb getting the better with a double, single and 4 RBIs against Steve Carlton, but Carlton got the win in a slugfest.

Dick Ruthven settled things down with 8 innings, and he doubled with one of the best batting cards of any pitcher in our game in a 4-2 win. The box score and how I set up the sheets is shown below. I lay the top of each team's batters just below the pitcher in the game at the time, then a business card under the batter at the plate. This was the set up when Carlton was facing Cobb., Whose home run range is 46-47 in addition to a deep drive on 48-52.

Phillies fans will remember the incredible turnaround to win the NL title, despite falling short in Game 6 of the World Series Saturday night. Despite being a happy Astros fan myself, I decided to remember another great Phillies team in a Statis-Pro game after the Series ended.

In my Eastern Division play, the 2008 Phillies World Champs already split against Honus Wagner's 1909 Pirates world champions, losing 1-0 then winning 5-3 in 11 innings. Tonight we played the other Phillies champions, against the team that lost that 1909 World Series - the Detroit Tigers. By clicking on the google sheet of the 60 great all-time teams, we see the following on the team page.

The other two tabs are for pitchers and hitters. As noted above, the Detroit Tigers have the 4th best player of all-time in Ty Cobb, and the Phillies have the 18th best player of all time in Mike Schmidt. 

The chart also shows that the pitchers hit in either park, and in the first game a DEEP drive is a homer of 11-58 in Philadelphia in 1980, but only goes out on an 11-18 in the second game played in Detroit in 1909. We have a separate Division for all the New York and Boston teams, so they are not in our "East."

When we go to the pitchers sheet we see the Phillies will also start the 58th best player of all-time in pitcher Steve Carlton. Carlton has the best PB 2-9, but also his maximum innings he can face is 10. The Tigers ace is Ed Killian who is almost as good with a PB 2-8 and can go up to 9 innings if his SR endurance does not run out. The blue pitchers are starters, the red is a closer, and then the black font below are relievers - all in order from best to worst. The Tigers do not have an ace reliever as in 1909 when the best pitchers all started and the relievers were there if they couldn't finish the whole game.

A picture of the scoresheet will be added after the game.

Statis-Pro Pitchers for All-Time Great Teams Complete - Including 2022 Astros and Phillies

 With Game 6 of the World Series pending, we have now added the pitchers for the 60 great all-time teams - so you can click here for the sheet of all batters and pitchers to play the free Statis-Pro game.

The pitchers' cards are calculated a bit differently for the all-time game then for a given season.

Here is the walk through using the Atlanta Braves 1995 team.

We list each teams starting pitchers in blue, in order of best ERA down.

We then list the most logical closer in red, and finally the other relievers in order of best ERA down.

In the game, 7% of pitchers are PB 2-9 (the best result, for an ERA about half of the league average, with 20% PB 2-8 etc.

PB	Pitchers	%	Normal Season
PB 2-9	57	7%	5%
PB 2-8	158	20%	10%
PB 2-7	280	35%	20%
PB 4-7	159	20%	30%
PB 2-6	69	9%	20%
PB 2-5	28	4%	10%
PB 2-4	43	5%	5%
	794	100%	100%

More details to follow.

Batters Cards Updated from Great Teams - Ty Cobb Card as Example

We are on the verge of switching our focus to Value Add Basketball Game, but want to leave all with corrected Great 60 teams of all time - and the batters are now updated here.

Worked the kinks out, and now have 13-23 batters for all 60 great teams. For any fellow stat nerds out there, the actual formulas and process on this link and you can even add new players with stats to calculate their cards at the bottom of the list.

For our example to explain what is on each card, we will use the new 1909 Detroit Tigers' card for Ty Cobb. The notes explain each of the columns.

Team	Detroit Tigers	Ty Cobb played for the Detroit Tigers
Year	1909	This card is part of the set for the 1909 Tigers team based on stats that year
Pos	OF - S	We list the players position, and if they were a starter like Cobb (S) or reserve (R).
Name	Ty Cobb*	In addition to Ty Cobb's name, * indicates he batted left-handed, while # would mean switch hitter.
1b	35	On the 11-88 random number cards, anything from 11 to the 35 is a single. If the number ends in 1 or 2 the batter pulls the pitch, 3 or 4 hits to left (1B7), 5 or 6 to CF, 7 or 8 to RF.
2b	43	Starting with the number just above the singles (a 36) up to this number, a 43, Cobb hits a double and use same rules for single on which field.
3b	45	Likewise from 44 to 45 Cobb his a triple, but all triples are considered hit to centerfield in Statis-Pro.
HR	47	A 46 or 47 is a home run.
Deep	52	A 48 to 52 is a deep drive and must check the home team to see if it is a home run or deep drive on the next 11-88 number.
K		Cobb has no strikeouts on his card, but can strikeout if the action is on the pitcher's card.
W		Cobb also does not walk on his own card, only hits.
HPB	53	Cobb is hit by a pitch only on a 53, since that is the next number after the previous number of 52 above.
Out	88	The batter is always OUT on any number higher than the highest number above - so 54-88 he is out.
BA	0.377	The batting average of .377 that year is just given for reference.
OPS	0.947	While Cobb's .947 OPS is excellent, but if a dead ball player like him hits in a live ball era, his OPS will be about .120 higher, so 1.067.
Add to 11-88	0	This number is usually 0, but if a player get a great card based on few plate appearances, then a number will appear her that must be added to the RN, so if a 4 was here, a 32 would become a 36.
OBR/SP	AAA	Cobb has the highest possible steal rating of AAA, with the next best being AA, A, B,C, D and finally a player can never steal with an E. We use this for OBR as well, though that only goes up to A.
Sac	AA+	The normal sacrifice bunt rating is AA, BB, CC or DD, but if a player was very fast and a great bunter, we use an AA+ that plays as an AA on the bunt chart, but he is safe on a single on 11-24.
H&R	2	Cobb has the best Hit & Run rating of 2.
Bats	LN	Cobb is a left-handed normal batter with 2 home run numbers. Any player with at least 3 home run numbers is considered a Power hitter instead of normal.
Cht	12/88	Against left-handed pitchers, change and 11 or 12 on Cobb's card or the pitcher's card to a strikeout. Against right-handed pitchers change an 88 to a single with runners advancing 2 bases.

After playing some games and being short on pinch hitters, I was able to add enough players so that every team has at least 13 batters (Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates) and as many as 23 batters (Hank Aaron's 1957 Milwaukee Braves). 

The players we have with just a few at bats received a weak batting card on which an "18" is a homer, but still a step up if pinch hitting for a standard pitcher's hitting card which only has singles from 11-14. 

 

Team	Season	Batters
Anaheim Angels	2002	20
Arizona Diamondbacks	2001	19
Atlanta Braves	1995	21
Baltimore Orioles	1970	20
Baltimore Orioles	1983	22
Boston Braves	1914	19
Boston Red Sox	1946	19
Boston Red Sox	2007	19
Brooklyn Dodgers	1955	20
Chicago Cubs	1907	17
Chicago Cubs	1929	20
Chicago White Sox	2005	19
Cincinnati Reds	1975	20
Cleveland Indians	1954	22
Cleveland Indians	1995	18
Colorado Rockies	2007	18
Detroit Tigers	1909	17
Detroit Tigers	1968	19
Detroit Tigers	1984	21
Florida Marlins	1997	22
Houston Astros	1998	20
Houston Astros	2005	18
Houston Astros	2022	21
Kansas City Royals	1985	21
Los Angeles Dodgers	1963	19
Los Angeles Dodgers	1988	20
Los Angeles Dodgers	2019-21	21
Milwaukee Braves	1957	23
Milwaukee Brewers	1982	19
Minnesota Twins	1991	20
Montreal Expos	1994	18
New York Giants	1954	14
New York Mets	1969	18
New York Mets	1986	18
New York Yankees	1927	17
New York Yankees	1939	21
New York Yankees	1961	17
New York Yankees	1998	18
New York Yankees	2022	20
Oakland A's	1972	21
Oakland A's	1989	20
Philadelphia Athletics	1910	18
Philadelphia Athletics	1929	15
Philadelphia Phillies	1980	18
Philadelphia Phillies	2008	15
Philadelphia Phillies	2022	21
Pittsburgh Pirates	1909	13
San Diego Padres	2022	21
San Francisco Giants	2002	17
San Francisco Giants	2012	22
Seattle Mariners	2001	15
St Louis Browns	1922	16
St Louis Cardinals	1942	16
St Louis Cardinals	1968	14
St Louis Cardinals	1982	18
Tampa Bay Rays	2008	20
Texas Rangers	2011	19
Toronto Blue Jays	1993	19
Washington Nationals	2019	19
Washington Senators	1924	16