Funny you should ask, John. The next post is a look at the first signs of decline for our protagonist.
Pat turned 35 on September 16, 1922. For the first time, his ratings have begun to slip a little bit, as he enters the decline phase of his career. I haven't said much about Pat's ratings in a while, as I've concentrated on the story that I've created around his performance in the simulation. I'll be paying closer attention to them for the remainder of his career, and I'll update his fans as they change.
His Contact rating peaked at 88, which precisely equaled his potential in this area. It only began to fall in 1922, and as the season ends, it still stands at 80. The switch-hitting Pat makes slightly better contact from against righties, 81-78.
In contrast, Pat is hitting the ball with even more authority as he ages! His rating for Gap Power has risen from 91 to 94 over the past two seasons; that and the livelier ball has made him into a triples machine. With a talent rating in that area of 93, he's as good as he'll get...right?
I had never imagined Pat would turn into a home run threat...but it happened anyway. His talent for driving the long ball has risen to 53, and he's developed it even further, to 59.
O'Farrell home run trivia time: The all-time leader in home runs at the end of the 1922 season is Pat's barnstorming buddy, Big Jim Nealon of the Tribe, with 150. For the time being, guess who is SECOND all-time, with 119? Barring cataclysmic forces or career-ending injuries, a guy named Ruth, who has 115, will pass both of them and take the all-time lead, but for one shining moment, only one man in all of major league history has hit more homers than Patrick O'Farrell.
The ability to distinguish between good and bad pitches often improves as a player ages, and this has happened to Pat. His Eye rating has soared to 102, close to his Talent potential of 106. No wonder he's walked more times than anyone in history.
Pat can still get around on a fastball, and he's still awfully hard to strike out. His rating for Avoiding Ks is 85, based on a talent rating of 80.
Like Lou Brock, Pat has retained the ability to steal bases into his thirties. His Speed, which peaked at a blazing 93 and remained there for years, has finally begun to decrease...although at 85, he can still outrun most major leagues with ease. By contrast, Cobb, who is about the same age, has apparently been eating too much barbecue during his winters in Georgia, and has "slowed" to a 67.
Pat was once a better-than-average fielder, but now his play around the keystone sack is merely average. His Range has slipped from 76 to 51, and he's become a frightful option at short or in left field (8 and 7). He still catches what he gets to, and his arm is still nearly as good as it once was (61 now, down from 70).
I hate to see Pat age, but I'm resisting the temptation to tweak his ratings in a Ponce de Leonesque attempt to find him a Fountain of Youth. For one thing, I'm anxious to see how OOTP handles his aging process. For another, I just don't want to cheat. And finally, I think writing the story of his baseball autumn will be a lot of fun, too.