Given
Hulon Stamps is another one of those "ghost" players, about whom little is known other than their NeL stats, this will be another OotS feature that focuses more on how the game can sometimes treat players upon import, particularly when that import is done manually.
First, the facts. We know from Seamheads that Hulon - born just before the turn of the 19th century into the 20th in rural Tennessee - played briefly in the mid-1920s NNL, almost exclusively for the Red Sox. We can deduce from those stats, his 71 career ERA+ above all, that his was not an overly memorable career. He appears only cursorily in Jim Riley's book and in none other among my numerous sources. He is not included in EC's MLEs.
And yet, in the face of all this, he has come into the EL as a herculean hurler.
For once, I cannot blame an fictitious HS or COL stat line created by the game to flesh out his history for the Draft - which I remain convinced is the number one reason for whatever hinky rookie years you see in OOTP - nor erroneous historical stats.
Well...
If I am being pedantic, the ERA+ for these NeL guys doesn't come in correctly, it is simply set to 100 for every season. This has the ripple effect of giving them inflated pWAR totals - SH has Hulon's career total at -2.1; OOTP has it at 4.5, with rWAR at a more accurate -4.6 - and that might explain how this extreme talent upgrade can happen.
I don't particularly mind it for the odd player like Hulon, as I feel it adds some colour to the game. But I am sure those who are super fastidious about historical accuracy would not share my view.
Whatever the case, Hulon's EL avatar has certainly made the most of its good fortune. Entering the league in 1975 as a Free-Agent, he was snapped up on a big 5-year deal by the ABCs, and proceeded to carve the league up. In his four completed seasons to date he is yet to tally less than 5 WAR, going 73-52 over that period.
In the most recent offseason, ahead of his walk year, Indy traded him to Detroit and he's so far won all 3 of his decisions for the MoStars. On a club that is on the up, he may well have some jewellery to show off at the end of the season.
As always, we'll keep regular tabs on him from this point forward.