OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - A player you should know about (Historical)

Covenant47 · 04-16-2002, 02:14 PM

In my single-player league, I'm progressing through baseball history as my beloved Orioles. (Except of course they were the St. Louis Browns for quite a while). Using real rookies, but drafting them each year.

I've been on the lookout for players who are talent-rated as both pitcher and hitter. If the player's talents are slanted largely towards hitting, but he's listed as a pitcher, I simply edit him to a hitter in the rookie draft (or vice versa). In the case where someone has great ratings both ways, I just leave him as is.

For example, Babe Ruth enjoyed a 20 year career in my league. He came up as a pitcher with the Yankees (oddly enough), and pitched his first two seasons. I acquired him in a trade and began to teach him to hit in the minors, and he played outfield for my Browns club for 8 years. When he left via free agency he was still rated highly as a pitcher and a hitter, so when the pitching-hungry Reds picked up, I swapped his position back to pitcher.

Anyway, the Babe had a solid career on both sides, though his power never developed to the epic levels it did in the real world. As a hitter he went .302 for his career with 200 homers (still good enough for 2nd on my all-time list as of 1935). As a pitcher, he went 140-91 with a 2.49 ERA, which is solid.

But of course, arguably the greatest player in the history of my league, as you might have already guessed, is Lefty O'Doul. I made him my first-round pick in the year he entered the draft. He's played his entire career with my Browns, breaking into the majors in 1921, and he will retire after this 1935 season. He has been voted to the all-star team every season of his career.

It's worth noting he's always been a platoon player, as for some reason his LHP hit rating never bothered going past 4, even though his RHP hits was at 12! That's by far the biggest disparity I've ever seen. As such, his stats are somewhat helped by the fact that he's never had to face any lefties.

Some stats: 3 MVP seasons:
1922 .413 AVG, 1.052 OPS, 13 HR, 131 RBI
1925 .416 AVG, 1.039 OPS, 12 HR, 105 RBI
1932 .442 AVG, 1.121 OPS, 17 HR, 104 RBI.

But his consistency has been amazing, here's his WORST year:
1926 .370 AVG, 0.860 OPS, 0 HR, 83 RBI.
I guess I can let a year or two like that slide, heh.

Career numbers:
.401 AVG, .455 OBP, .533 SLG, .988 OPS,
140 HR, 1313 RBI
If he retired tomorrow he would be #1 in AVG (2nd is .352!), #18 in RBI, and #27 in HR.

So, all in all, quite a career. And as Lefty's career ends, the Braves have drafted one Tommy Moore, who's Good/Good/Fair/Fair/Good/Good as a hitter, and Brilliant/Average/Brilliant/Brilliant/Poor as a pitcher. Should be interesting to see where he ends up.

04-16-2002, 02:14 PM	#14
Covenant47 Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 8	In my single-player league, I'm progressing through baseball history as my beloved Orioles. (Except of course they were the St. Louis Browns for quite a while). Using real rookies, but drafting them each year. I've been on the lookout for players who are talent-rated as both pitcher and hitter. If the player's talents are slanted largely towards hitting, but he's listed as a pitcher, I simply edit him to a hitter in the rookie draft (or vice versa). In the case where someone has great ratings both ways, I just leave him as is. For example, Babe Ruth enjoyed a 20 year career in my league. He came up as a pitcher with the Yankees (oddly enough), and pitched his first two seasons. I acquired him in a trade and began to teach him to hit in the minors, and he played outfield for my Browns club for 8 years. When he left via free agency he was still rated highly as a pitcher and a hitter, so when the pitching-hungry Reds picked up, I swapped his position back to pitcher. Anyway, the Babe had a solid career on both sides, though his power never developed to the epic levels it did in the real world. As a hitter he went .302 for his career with 200 homers (still good enough for 2nd on my all-time list as of 1935). As a pitcher, he went 140-91 with a 2.49 ERA, which is solid. But of course, arguably the greatest player in the history of my league, as you might have already guessed, is Lefty O'Doul. I made him my first-round pick in the year he entered the draft. He's played his entire career with my Browns, breaking into the majors in 1921, and he will retire after this 1935 season. He has been voted to the all-star team every season of his career. It's worth noting he's always been a platoon player, as for some reason his LHP hit rating never bothered going past 4, even though his RHP hits was at 12! That's by far the biggest disparity I've ever seen. As such, his stats are somewhat helped by the fact that he's never had to face any lefties. Some stats: 3 MVP seasons: 1922 .413 AVG, 1.052 OPS, 13 HR, 131 RBI 1925 .416 AVG, 1.039 OPS, 12 HR, 105 RBI 1932 .442 AVG, 1.121 OPS, 17 HR, 104 RBI. But his consistency has been amazing, here's his WORST year: 1926 .370 AVG, 0.860 OPS, 0 HR, 83 RBI. I guess I can let a year or two like that slide, heh. Career numbers: .401 AVG, .455 OBP, .533 SLG, .988 OPS, 140 HR, 1313 RBI If he retired tomorrow he would be #1 in AVG (2nd is .352!), #18 in RBI, and #27 in HR. So, all in all, quite a career. And as Lefty's career ends, the Braves have drafted one Tommy Moore, who's Good/Good/Fair/Fair/Good/Good as a hitter, and Brilliant/Average/Brilliant/Brilliant/Poor as a pitcher. Should be interesting to see where he ends up.