Believe It or Don't! Topic

In the most recent AM game of a 120M twist league I'm in, my mop, 1914 Guy Cooper, hit a grand slam in his first (and so far only) at-bat of the season.  In real life, Cooper hit 0 HR in 9 AB.

I posted this in our league message forum, and of course was paid back for it in the very next game.  My opponent's starting pitcher in the PM game, 1967 Al Downing (RL: 1 HR in 66 AB), hit a grand slam against us.   For good measure he added two solo shots, as well.    

Believe It or Don't!
12/25/2014 4:54 PM
i believe it all, because as dave niehaus used to say, every day you come to the ballpark you see something you never saw before
1/2/2015 9:49 PM
I had 1922 Tilly Walker in a 110M theme league that just finished its regular season.  He put up a pretty disappointing batting line of .227/.299/.399 (the league average was .282/.343/.387).  

However, you might say he was a clutch .227 hitter: Walker finished 4th in the league with 138 RBI!

Believe It or Don't!
2/4/2015 3:48 AM
More Clutch Hitting

In the Take Two theme ($90M cap), 1980 Mike Schmidt is off to a blazing start.  16 games in and he's hit 9 HR for a line of .327/.464/.927 and 21 RBI.

Schmidt, however, does not lead the league in RBI.  That would be 1934 Joe Medwick, with 22.  He's hit 0 HR, and his line is .297/.307/.446.  

Medwick's 1st in RBI, despite being 49th in slugging!

Believe It or Don't!
3/12/2015 2:11 AM
Who are the guys in front of Medwick and what are their OBP,  does Medwick bat 5th???
3/12/2015 9:04 AM
He bats 3rd.  The batters in front of him are usually a combo of 1934 Frankie Frisch (who has only a .306 OBP here), 2014 Lorenzo Cain (.522 OBP) and 2014 Jarrod Dyson (.485 OBP).
3/12/2015 11:51 AM
No hitters are of course relatively unusual.

No hitters in the world series are exceptionally rare, having occurred exactly once in all of MLB history.

No one in MLB history has ever thrown a no-hitter in the series-clinching game, and I do not believe that I have ever seen it happen in WIS either.

Well, in the 1988 NWP World Series, Dwight Gooden just did it....

... And he LOST the game.

(Yes I know MLB technically doesn't count it as a no-hitter under these circumstances...I think they're silly.  He allowed no hits in a complete game.  It's a no-hitter.)

WIth his team trailing 3 games to 2, Doc took the mound for the Gangs of New York in game 6 against the Cleveland Electros, who were looking to close out the series at home.  In the bottom of the first, Cleveland's leadoff batter, Gerald Young, reached on an error by Cal Ripken.  Fred Lynn then grounded into a double play, and Gooden proceeded to retire the next 19 batters in a row.  Through 7, he had faced the minimum of 21 batters. 

The score remained 0-0, as Electros' starter John Tudor pitched 7 shutout innings, and reliever Jeff Parrett held New York scoreless in the 8th.

In the bottom the 8th, Cleveland's Andy Van Slyke drew a walk and promptly stole second base.  Two infield outs advanced Van Slyke to 3rd, and Gooden appeared to get out of the inning when pinch hitter John Shelby grounded to Frank White.  But White booted it, Van Slyke scored, and Cleveland had the only run they would need.

Parrett set down New York 1-2-3 in the 9th as the Electros closed out the series with a 1-0 win.  Gooden, despite allowing no hits, took the loss.  It was his only defeat in the postseason, as he finished 4-1 with a 1.13 ERA.
3/15/2015 3:43 PM
Man, that's some tough luck.
3/15/2015 7:20 PM
By Hook or By Crook

I've got a team in a 1929 prog fighting for a pennant.  We just lost to a non contender, in a game closed out by Cy Moore.  Moore notched his 20th save of the season, good for 6th overall in the league.  He's blown 8 saves, too -- which doesn't seem so bad, when you consider his ERA is 13.50!

Believe It or Don't!

3/20/2015 2:07 PM (edited)

I just had a team finish the season 16-44 in the division and 47-45 against everybody else.

Believe It or Don't!
3/22/2015 7:54 AM
Saved by the Rookie

In a 1929 prog, my team entered the season without a full-time SS after we failed to draft or trade for one.  I was stuck with the AAA SS, who in real life was 2001 Deivi Cruz and his ho-hum line of .256/.291/.379 with 28 doubles, 1 triple and 7 HR. 

We just won game 160 of the season to clinch the pennant, and now Cruz will be benched to rest up for the playoffs.  He finishes the season with 1 triple and 7 HR, to match his real life totals.  However, he hit 46 doubles, and put up a line of .332/.368/.491.  What's more, in the last 5 games -- must-wins for us -- he came through with 14 hits, 6 doubles, 3 HR and 18 RBI.  In four of the five games he was named Player of the Game.

Believe It or Don't!
3/30/2015 1:54 AM
Posted by contrarian23 on 3/15/2015 3:43:00 PM (view original):
No hitters are of course relatively unusual.

No hitters in the world series are exceptionally rare, having occurred exactly once in all of MLB history.

No one in MLB history has ever thrown a no-hitter in the series-clinching game, and I do not believe that I have ever seen it happen in WIS either.

Well, in the 1988 NWP World Series, Dwight Gooden just did it....

... And he LOST the game.

(Yes I know MLB technically doesn't count it as a no-hitter under these circumstances...I think they're silly.  He allowed no hits in a complete game.  It's a no-hitter.)

WIth his team trailing 3 games to 2, Doc took the mound for the Gangs of New York in game 6 against the Cleveland Electros, who were looking to close out the series at home.  In the bottom of the first, Cleveland's leadoff batter, Gerald Young, reached on an error by Cal Ripken.  Fred Lynn then grounded into a double play, and Gooden proceeded to retire the next 19 batters in a row.  Through 7, he had faced the minimum of 21 batters. 

The score remained 0-0, as Electros' starter John Tudor pitched 7 shutout innings, and reliever Jeff Parrett held New York scoreless in the 8th.

In the bottom the 8th, Cleveland's Andy Van Slyke drew a walk and promptly stole second base.  Two infield outs advanced Van Slyke to 3rd, and Gooden appeared to get out of the inning when pinch hitter John Shelby grounded to Frank White.  But White booted it, Van Slyke scored, and Cleveland had the only run they would need.

Parrett set down New York 1-2-3 in the 9th as the Electros closed out the series with a 1-0 win.  Gooden, despite allowing no hits, took the loss.  It was his only defeat in the postseason, as he finished 4-1 with a 1.13 ERA.
see last post on pg9.

I had Pete Falcone throw perfect game in game 7 of a 1976 progressive. That was in 2004-ish
4/2/2015 10:43 PM
I could use one of those 76 Pete Falcone World Series no hitters about now! (Note: I had the winning team in contrarian's post above, so lightning can strike twice in a month, right?!)
4/3/2015 10:26 AM
Posted by crazystengel on 3/30/2015 1:54:00 AM (view original):
Saved by the Rookie

In a 1929 prog, my team entered the season without a full-time SS after we failed to draft or trade for one.  I was stuck with the AAA SS, who in real life was 2001 Deivi Cruz and his ho-hum line of .256/.291/.379 with 28 doubles, 1 triple and 7 HR. 

We just won game 160 of the season to clinch the pennant, and now Cruz will be benched to rest up for the playoffs.  He finishes the season with 1 triple and 7 HR, to match his real life totals.  However, he hit 46 doubles, and put up a line of .332/.368/.491.  What's more, in the last 5 games -- must-wins for us -- he came through with 14 hits, 6 doubles, 3 HR and 18 RBI.  In four of the five games he was named Player of the Game.

Believe It or Don't!
This team went to the WS (no other playoff rounds in a 12-team league) and lost, 4-3.  On a team with some pretty good firepower (Babe Ruth, Bill Terry, Johnny Frederick, Carl Reynolds), the rookie SS topped all our batters in average (.300), slugging (.620) and RBI (7). 

Believe It or Don't!

I'd also like to give credit to ljemd, the owner of the team that defeated us.  He's been in this prog all 29 seasons of its existence.  Prior to this season, he hadn't made the playoffs since 1904, a 25-year drought.  This is his first WS win.

Believe It or Don't!
4/3/2015 1:33 PM
So I recently entered an OL team just for fun (even named them "Just For Fun").  I was looking to put together about the best offense I could for an OL, while still meeting the pitching IP minimum.  Put them in Coors, of course.

This league ended up being like no other OL I've ever seen.

First, a look at my offense...here are the stats for the 8 regulars:

Player SN B G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS STRK L STRK
Jeter, Derek 1999 R 156 765 307 343 59 12 41 190 137 78 12 0 0 .448 .538 .718 1.256 12 56
Foxx, Jimmie 1938 R 159 694 303 292 44 9 98 233 193 85 4 0 0 .421 .547 .934 1.481 7 19
Mauer, Joe 2006 L 139 655 247 284 60 10 28 239 121 34 7 0 0 .434 .524 .684 1.207 0 19
Hamilton, Billy 1893 L 132 594 229 262 51 6 26 200 113 15 14 0 0 .441 .537 .678 1.215 19 28
Ruth, Babe 1932 L 143 583 256 220 23 3 81 244 189 66 3 0 0 .377 .530 .844 1.374 5 16
Hornsby, Rogers 1923 R 136 583 200 261 53 7 56 263 90 34 3 0 0 .448 .523 .851 1.374 21 21
Jones, Chipper 2008 S 133 567 193 254 39 2 46 261 133 52 4 0 0 .448 .550 .767 1.317 1 17
Williams, Ted 1954 L 135 527 242 253 39 3 71 294 204 25 4 0 0 .480 .622 .970 1.592 19 24

Note that "56" at the top right for Jeter...yep...he matched Joe D's hit streak.

Some pretty amazing numbers.  Not sure which I am more impressed by.  Foxx's 98 homers, or Ted's .622 on base percentage.

Of course, the pitching staff was pretty ugly:

Player SN T G GS CG SHO W L SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB SO OAV OBP SLG WHIP ERA
Hughey, Jim 1899 R 60 28 5 0 11 14 4 6 235.3 433 332 306 32 138 47 .388 .459 .582 2.43 11.70
Knepper, Charlie 1899 R 48 27 8 0 13 12 1 3 232.3 427 319 274 47 131 55 .384 .453 .600 2.40 10.61
Potter, Nels 1939 R 55 29 0 0 13 11 2 3 208.0 351 249 227 58 114 91 .368 .438 .625 2.24 9.82
Keough, Matt 1982 R 45 27 1 0 9 15 2 2 206.3 351 281 271 66 162 85 .383 .476 .680 2.49 11.82
Lamp, Dennis 1980 R 45 26 0 0 11 10 0 0 184.7 343 240 214 44 106 75 .397 .461 .629 2.43 10.43
Mattern, Al 1911 R 36 25 0 0 6 10 2 2 147.3 336 265 251 39 117 57 .442 .515 .696 3.07 15.33
Spatz, Cary (P) 2015 L 52 0 0 0 11 2 0 1 85.3 133 109 102 30 58 52 .354 .439 .670 2.24 10.76
Hasegawa, Shigetoshi 2003 R 52 0 0 0 5 1 0 4 63.7 73 38 37 14 24 30 .282 .345 .467 1.52 5.23
Stamper, Tony (P) 2015 R 25 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 61.0 69 43 43 18 27 35 .282 .356 .604 1.57 6.34
Harris, Bill 1931 R 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 3.3 4 3 3 0 1 1 .308 .400 .308 1.50 8.10

We somehow managed to fnish over .500 (86-76) which I wasn't expecting...but here's the mindblowing part.  Despite scoring 2369 runs, hitting 475 homers... we did not come close to leading the league in either category.

Furthermore, we allowed 1879 runs (and 348 HR)...and again, were not even close to the worst in the league.

Apparently, several other owners had the same idea as I did, and from the early banter in the league forum, it appears they may have been friends who decided to join together (before anyone asks, I do NOT think there was any collusion here.)

These were the overall team totals for runs scored:

Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
Yippy Skippy 162 6806 2552 2580 417 68 860 2475 1321 806 78 0 1 .379 .483 .839 1.322
double troube 162 6781 2389 2478 386 83 815 2304 1233 814 70 5 1 .365 .466 .807 1.273
ugly again 162 6538 2387 2315 484 46 599 2299 1492 812 111 7 2 .354 .479 .717 1.196
Just for Fun 162 6809 2369 2681 431 61 475 2242 1317 568 67 0 1 .394 .494 .684 1.178
even more dingers 162 6444 1900 2169 374 48 603 1862 1096 1085 60 0 0 .337 .436 .690 1.126
Fungus 162 6322 1871 2208 315 67 257 1763 1163 601 76 141 62 .349 .453 .542 .995
MUSSEL STEW 162 6374 1759 2296 542 70 243 1681 876 509 54 207 42 .360 .438 .582 1.020
Dark Side 162 6137 1689 1941 331 34 408 1628 1151 823 89 9 6 .316 .429 .581 1.010
LEAGUE AVERAGE 162 6282 1666 2126 369 63 330 1593 924 641 63 198 51 .338 .426 .575 1.001
more dingers 162 6209 1647 1962 316 50 496 1595 955 825 68 6 14 .316 .411 .623 1.034
Blue Herrons 162 6325 1645 2091 364 57 367 1559 894 773 62 137 49 .331 .416 .580 .996
BO CHASERS 162 6284 1584 2200 416 71 207 1531 760 503 54 318 42 .350 .422 .538 .960
Vitamins 162 6216 1556 2113 372 51 388 1506 670 525 52 145 49 .340 .407 .603 1.010
Killer & The Babe 162 6040 1538 1955 346 45 355 1470 971 588 56 148 41 .324 .419 .572 .991
Duck Soup 162 6163 1535 2096 336 72 181 1438 771 484 61 676 146 .340 .416 .506 .922
Bottom Of The Barrel 162 6209 1519 2133 336 82 175 1422 876 528 51 376 70 .344 .426 .509 .935
3 A.M. Eternal 162 6219 1493 2091 358 67 128 1403 884 382 52 325 112 .336 .420 .477 .897
Fuzzy Sugaree 162 6352 1468 2217 424 82 110 1377 682 444 50 322 79 .349 .414 .494 .908
Yeldarbs Royals 162 6267 1458 2085 355 106 256 1385 701 731 44 311 43 .333 .401 .546 .947
Mrs. Peel meet Mr. Steed 162 6170 1410 2071 388 51 268 1370 683 576 62 200 86 .336 .405 .545 .950
Hit Men 162 6267 1366 2176 369 77 80 1293 612 465 47 594 143 .347 .407 .469 .876
Slap City 162 5993 1304 1910 332 60 100 1247 809 320 55 309 107 .319 .401 .444 .845
Returning Clueless 162 5928 1260 1748 266 92 174 1183 762 637 52 338 81 .295 .378 .459 .837
Yankees 162 5822 1165 1675 307 32 202 1119 818 778 82 85 16 .288 .381 .456 .837
All Stars 1987 162 6100 1121 1833 292 37 182 1083 669 803 49 83 27 .300 .372 .450 .822

The average team in this league scored 1666 runs (more than 10 per game).  Imagine being in an OL, scoring 1121 runs, and realizing that you were LAST in the league in scoring?

The league leaderboards were, as you might imagine, ridiculous.  Foxx's 98 HR for my team?  That was 19th in the league.  Here are the top 18:

Rank Name SN G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS STRK L STRK
1 Ruth, Babe 1927 162 714 363 317 39 4 161 438 208 96 9 0 0 .444 .569 1.186 1.755 7 28
2 Ruth, Babe 1921 162 682 337 325 62 13 152 405 225 70 11 2 0 .477 .608 1.274 1.883 21 21
3 Ruth, Babe 1927 162 691 391 324 45 11 152 397 234 83 3 0 0 .469 .603 1.226 1.828 0 20
4 Ruth, Babe 1920 162 712 377 304 59 5 146 352 224 111 4 0 0 .427 .565 1.139 1.704 14 30
5 Ruth, Babe 1927 162 679 334 307 49 9 142 356 217 83 9 0 0 .452 .588 1.178 1.766 1 25
6 Greenberg, Hank 1938 162 724 309 291 36 4 137 354 166 83 13 0 0 .402 .518 1.030 1.549 7 16
7 Ruth, Babe 1920 162 694 362 268 53 7 135 418 230 113 15 0 0 .386 .543 1.066 1.610 1 25
8 Ruth, Babe 1927 162 657 263 293 28 6 131 340 204 85 9 0 0 .446 .579 1.105 1.684 6 33
9 Ruth, Babe 1920 152 655 368 269 53 7 131 296 241 97 3 0 0 .411 .571 1.113 1.684 2 22
10 Ruth, Babe 1930 162 687 317 325 50 10 125 365 210 60 11 0 0 .473 .597 1.121 1.718 0 18
11 Ruth, Babe 1930 162 745 351 314 51 10 122 276 227 66 4 0 0 .421 .557 1.008 1.565 2 32
12 Ruth, Babe 1927 162 670 277 289 39 4 119 334 169 95 7 0 0 .431 .546 1.034 1.581 9 15
13 Greenberg, Hank 1938 162 768 307 292 44 3 117 329 140 79 11 0 0 .380 .479 .902 1.381 2 14
14 Ruth, Babe 1920 162 672 309 271 57 7 111 290 204 130 8 0 0 .403 .543 1.004 1.547 0 27
15 Schmidt, Mike 1980 162 741 255 275 42 13 110 293 126 102 14 0 0 .371 .469 .908 1.378 4 15
16 Ruth, Babe 1927 162 642 241 254 39 3 109 293 170 101 9 0 0 .396 .522 .975 1.497 4 17
17 Schmidt, Mike 1980 152 707 253 257 54 6 109 279 153 111 8 0 0 .364 .480 .919 1.399 4 11
18 Ruth, Babe 1920 151 603 272 236 39 5 101 292 191 109 1 1 0 .391 .536 .975 1.511 3 22

Yup.  18 players hit more than 100 homers.

And of course, the standings were a mess as well.  Six teams won 42 or fewer games...12 teams won 100 more...and 4 of those 100-game winners ended up missing the playoffs.

MLB110524 in case anyone is interested in seeing more of the details.





4/5/2015 7:42 PM
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