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Old 08-17-2018, 02:23 PM   #1
tdneu99
All Star Reserve
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 663
Dave Kingman Career Redux (522 Career HR and still going...)

Dave Kingman. Sky King. Or simply Kong

One of the most feared power hitters during his 16 years in the league (1971-1986). His homers flew far and even his pop flies sometimes did unusual things (https://www.mlb.com/cut4/dave-kingma...of/c-227649908). Nobody went to the concession stands or the bathroom when a Kong at-bat was approaching, for fear of missing something memorable - a mammoth shot, or a huge whiff.

I've always been enamored with Kong and players like him from a statistical standpoint. He hit 442 HR with 1210 RBI during a career where he only played in 74.8% of his teams' games. He only had one major injury in his career - torn thumb ligaments which derailed what could have been a historic 1976 season (http://mets360.com/?p=8585). His playing time was otherwise affected by concerns about his low average, difficulty in finding a regular position in the field, and occasional conflicts with management and the press.

But what if he had played every day? What if he were judged solely by his power production, like today's players, where the HR is king and low average and lots of strikeouts are largely ignored? What kind of numbers would he have produced in that scenario?

The premise of this historical replay will be to redo his career as an everyday player, with the following set of house rules:

1) Starting the replay in 1972, his second year in the league. He was a July 30 callup for the Giants in 1971, so I will keep that season intact. The Giants had Mays, McCovey and Bonds at that point, so I figure it would be cheating to replay that season.

2) Setup Configuration:
Optimize Players Setting for – Career Play
Base Current Ratings On – Neutralized Stats
Base Potential Rating On – Remaining Peak Years of Career
Base Fielding Ratings On – 3 years
Base Pitcher Stamina Ratings on – 3 years
Import Real L/R Splits – No/Unchecked
Disable Player Development – No/Unchecked
Use player personality ratings – No/Unchecked
Show and use player morale system – No/Unchecked
Show and use team chemistry system – No/Unchecked
Use Real Historical Transactions – Yes/Checked
Automatically Expand League – Yes/Checked
Base Roles / Positions on – Real Life
Automatically Adjust League Strategy – Yes/Checked
Automatically adjust league totals modifiers after each season for historical accuracy – Yes/Checked
Lock league total stats – No/Unchecked
Retire players according to history – No/Unchecked
Automatically Import Historical Rookies – Yes/Checked
Disable the First-year Player Draft – Yes/Checked
Use Complete Coaching System – No/Unchecked
Enable Owner Goals – No/Unchecked
Player Evaluation AI Settings – Default

3) I will play as Commisioner/GM (Legacy Mode) for whatever team he is playing for each year (or parts of a season, as in 1977, when he played for 4 teams). This is to ensure he is in the lineup on a daily basis. He will be a force-start at 1B and in the cleanup spot, unless overriden by the Manager at some other position or lineup spot.

4) The AI creates him as a "durable" player, but I will abide by any injuries during gameplay

5) I will sim games one at a time, and allow the AI coaching staff to make any gameplay decisions. I will check the box to prevent him from being lifted for a pich hitter during games.

6) Retirement - In the offseason prior to the 1987 season, it is now widely accepted that the owners colluded against the players in terms of free agent signings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_...ball_collusion). Kingman was likely a victim of that. While he probably would not have been resigned by the A's, who had Canseco and a young McGwire coming in, Kingman's 35 HR and 94 RBI in 1986 should have warranted a landing spot somewhere, with Seattle the most likely team (his career numbers in the Kingdome were astronomical). So, based on this, if Kong has a decent 1986 season in the replay, I will find an American League team that needs a DH for the 1987 season.

I hope the forum will find this replay interesting. I have actually started this replay a few times, but never finished it for one reason or another. I think committing to posting the results will force me to finish this time around.

I'll post games results in which he homers, including the circumstances, or any other instances where has a particularly good game. I'll also post some analysis at the end of each season comparing his replay results to his actual career for that season.

Last edited by tdneu99; 12-27-2018 at 07:36 PM. Reason: typo
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