[Syd Thrift]

I prefer historical/fictional because I like having a "fog of war" situation where I can't look at a player by their name and just know that they'll probably have a great career ahead of them. I mean, sure, Ted Williams *could* flame out by the time he's 25, but it's far more likely in a historical league that he'll become, well, Ted Williams. I think it's a lot more fun when you have a bright young phenom named, like, Ed Davis who is just awesome and cool and the only expectations you have of them are the expectations you have of any player who hits .400 when they're like 23 years old.

There's also a point to be made that even historical leagues are fictional on some level. Personality ratings can't be dialed in to what guys were like IRL because there's no way to model that that I'm aware of, for instance. I like to play with chemistry, etc. on because in real life it is in fact part of the game. But beyond that, what if Willie Mays blows out his leg sliding into home one year and goes on to be a pretty good but not great player? There are superstars in the making whose careers fell apart for reasons like this, it's just that Willie Mays wasn't one of them IRL. What if I want to trade Frank Robinson to the Orioles in the early 60s and it actually seems to make sense because, superstar or no, Frank is pushing 30? IRL of course that's considered one of the worst trades of all time but it could very well have wound up like the Ken Griffey Jr. trade to the Reds, where the Mariners got some nice pieces to stay in contention in the short run and in the long run weren't tied down by a huge contract for someone who couldn't field his position well about halfway through the deal.