Good grief...Look at that Athletics lineup. Raines and Molitor are #1 and #2 in career stolen bases, and have combined to steal 503 in their first four seasons together. Anthony Rizzo just sits back in his rocking chair, and routinely hits 20+ HR, and knocks in 100+ every year so far. Rizzo signed an 8 year/$18,570 deal that takes him through seven more seasons, but as of right now, Raines and Molly are still going year to year.
The Brooklyn Superbas rotation had a very sweet season on the way to 96 wins and a World Championship. Looking at the names, I'm not sure they're built to last, but everything clicked in 1904.
The Boston Beaneaters bullpen was nuts. Trevor Hoffman as a setup guy? Clay Carroll as a middle reliever? Well...Yeah. Rookie Bob Black went 7-2, 27 SV, 0.99 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 12.0 K/9. Look at the Who's Hot column off to the right to see how Black, Hoffman, and Carroll performed down the stretch.
Sadly, the team wasn't in contention, but that's a tremendous performance by the 'pen.
Yes, Black's a 19th century pitcher Mr. Watts, and yes, we've discussed the perils of allowing them into our games before, but I can't let go of the Cap Ansons, the Charlie Bennetts, the Deacon Whites, the Ross Barnes' etc etc, and so I put up with the aberrations of the pitchers of that era. I use strict rotation mode to keep the SP innings leaders in the 260-270 range, which works for me, even if it's unrealistic to hold back the horses of that era. It does mean your 5th SP has to be more than a mere afterthought, which also provides a challenge I s'pose. Pics below: