The United States Baseball League 2.0

[NYY #23]

Career Runs Leaders:

1) Juan Jimenez - 2673
2) Andy Nunez - 2612
3) Pedro Febo - 2575
4) Tomas Laura - 2528
5) Roberto Garcia - 2399
6) Guillermo Flores - 2271
7) DeMario Lopez - 2237
8) Will Bozzo - 2220
9) Tom Chiodi - 2202
10) Juan Sanchez - 2150
11) Jorge Rivas - 2145
12) Plinio Serra - 2108
13) Moises Rosario - 2102
14) Campbell van Olst - 2099
15) Eric Helmke - 2077
16) Chad Monrad - 2059
17) Gustavo Martinez - 2054
18) Chis Van Wie - 2038
19) Juan Araujo - 2008
20) Ivan Torres - 1982

[NYY #23]

Greg Hartzler would sign with the Houston Oilers from an independent league, making his debut with the Oilers in 2052 as a 25 year old, going 14-3 with a 3.42 ERA. Hartzler would win his first and only Pitcher of the Year Award in 2056 when he went 20-3 with a 2.12 ERA, but would have double digit wins eleven years.

Hartzler would go to 7 All-Star Games, win three Championships with the Oilers, and finish with a career record of 204-153 with 121 saves and a 3.38 ERA. Hartzler would be inducted into the Hall of Fame with 87.6% of the vote on his third year on the ballot.

[NYY #23]

George Allen appeared on my radar after finishing second in Reliever of the Year voting in 2059 when he went 4-5 with 50 saves and a 1.26 ERA with 139 strikeouts in 78 2/3 innings. He'd lead the league in saves again the next year with 47, and stick as the closer for the Brooklyn Bulldogs for seven years before injuries started to slow him down. Allen finished with a career record of 33-40 with 272 saves and a 2.24 ERA, striking out 13.1 batters per nine innings. Allen went to one All-Star game and fell off the ballot after receiving 4.7% of the vote his first year of eligibility.



Dan Tressel had a dominant year in 2061 as a 33 year old for the Grand Island Prairie Dogs, going 3-2 with 66 saves and an 0.47 ERA, striking out 142 batters in 96 2/3 innings to earn the Reliever of the Year Award. Unfortunately he entered the league at such a late age it's hard to tell what Tressel could have done, but he went to three All-Star Games during his time in the USBL and was 32-26 with 208 saves and a 1.93 ERA, failing to qualify for the Hall of Fame ballot with just 7 years in the league.

[NYY #23]

Tyler Figiel made his debut in the USBL for the Galveston Sand Crabs hitting .333 with 50 home runs, 124 RBI, 132 runs scored, and 33 stolen bases to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year Award. He'd follow that up with his second MVP Award, hitting .366 with 36 home runs, 117 RBI, and 131 runs scored with 29 stolen bases.

Figiel would add six Silver Slugger Awards at second base, go to seven All-Star Games, and win one Championship during his career. It would take five years on the ballot before Figiel would make the Hall of Fame, inducted with just 75.9% of the vote.

[NYY #23]

Lawrence Tapken was an eight time All-Star and four time Silver Slugger at catcher for the St. Louis Blue Hens. Tapken would go on to be a .280 career hitter in the league with 287 home runs, 1131 RBI, and 967 runs scored. Tapken would finish with a career WAR of 63.6 during his career, and would fall off the Hall of Fame ballot the first year that he appeared.



Octavio Vasquez won the batting title his first year in the league for the Billings Mustangs when he hit .360. He added 16 home runs, 99 RBI, and had a WAR of 6.6. He followed that up with a .316 batting average, 20 home runs, and 96 RBI while winning his first Gold Glove at first base. After two more years in the league his career came to a tragic end with a career ending injury at the age of 29. He hit .338 for his career with 87 home runs, 439 RBI, and 419 runs scored while winning two Gold Gloves at first base in his four years in the league.



Steven White appeared on my radar after winning a Silver Slugger Award in 2062 when he hit .319 with 35 home runs, 90 RBI, and 90 runs scored as a 32 year old. That would be the only Silver Slugger Award for White, who played nine seasons for the Grand Island Prairie Dogs while going to four All-Star games. White hit .295 during his career with 237 home runs, 677 RBI, and 613 runs scored.

[NYY #23]

Tony Zelaya entered the USBL out of Panama and signed with the Houston Oilers as an international amateur. After appearing in five portions with the Oilers he was traded to the Boise Cutthroats for three prospects. It would turn out to be a deal that the Oilers would regret as all three prospects never amounted to much, and Zelaya would have a long career in Boise.

Zelaya would hit .288 during his career with 290 home runs, 1577 RBI, 1467 runs scored, and 156 stolen bases. He'd win his only MVP in 2018 when he hit .312 with a league leading 24 home runs, and 128 RBI. Zelaya would win five Gold Gloves in centerfield and seven Silver Slugger Awards. The 9 time All-Star won one Championship during his career and would be inducted into the Hall of Fame with 88.3% of the vote his first year of eligibility.

[NYY #23]

Over the course of highlighting Hall of Famers I've noticed several first overall picks that made it in to the Hall of Fame. I thought I'd go back and take a look at how the first overall picks did throughout the history of the league.

I'll begin with the 20's, where four players were drafted first overall. It was four successful drafts with three of the four players making it to the Hall of Fame - Juan Bosques, DeMario Lopez, and Gil Waller. The fourth player, Steve Cochran didn't make the Hall of Fame, but finished with a career WAR of 48.7.

The four combined for a career WAR of 471.9, or an average WAR of 118. Things started off well for the first overall draft picks.

[NYY #23]

While the 20's saw a lot success from first overall draft picks the 30's weren't as fortunate. Of the 10 players selected just two made the Hall of Fame, Dan Edmonds and Colton Agin. While two others had productive careers, the six other players could be considered busts. Four picks didn't even make it to the majors while two others had a career WAR of less than 10 career WAR.

Total WAR: 269.2
Avg. WAR: 26.9
HOF's: 2

[NYY #23]

Three number one draft picks made the Hall of Fame in the 1940's - John Odom, John Feltner, and Josh Gelb. Overall it would be a pretty successful decade, with none of the players drafted busts. The lowest WAR out of any player was Jorge Torres and his 19.7 WAR. The 600 Total WAR is the highest to date.

Total WAR: 600.7
Avg. WAR: 60.1
HOF's: 3

[NYY #23]

Truman Burkley and Marvin Switalski were the two Hall of Famers that were drafted in the 1950's with the first overall pick. Two picks could be considered busts, while the other six had some level of success.

Total WAR: 488.4
Avg. WAR: 48.8
HOF's: 2

[NYY #23]

The 1960's saw three number one overall draft picks become Hall of Famers. Pedro Rubio, Mark Fowler, and Jeff Williams all went from first overall to the Hall of Fame.

One player drafted fail to make the majors, while Fred Crays had 16.2 WAR, the next lowest total. The other five players drafted all ha a WAR of at least 41.8.

Total WAR: 548.9
Avg. WAR: 54.9
HOF's: 3

[NYY #23]

Three Hall of Famers were drafted in the 1970's as the first overall pick - Lucio Rivera, Clinton Moore, and Tom Chiodi. Three of the first overall picks were busts, while the other four had varying degrees of success.

Total WAR: 372.5
Avg. WAR: 37.3
HOF's: 3

[NYY #23]

Next up is the 1980's, which didn't produce a lot of big talent. Only one Hall of Famer was drafted first overall, Ryan Viereck. There were a lot of solid players though, with seven players making an impact in the USBL, and only two that could be considered busts.

Total WAR: 427.5
Avg. WAR: 42.8
HOF's: 1

[NYY #23]

Rory Sevener, Quentin Richards, Carlos Calderon, and Brandon Harrison would all be drafted as the first overall pick and go into the Hall of Fame, making the 90's the most successful decade to date. Richards, Hanson, and Calderon were all drafted in consecutive years from 1996 to 1998. Two players were considered busts.

Total WAR: 504.1
Avg. WAR: 50.4
HOF's: 4

[NYY #23]

For the second straight decade four players drafted first overall made it into the Hall of Fame, with William Shupbach, Steve Fisher, Mark Hall, and Jesus Martinez achieving the feat. The 2000's were similar to the 90's with two busts.

Total WAR: 522.1
Avg WAR: 52.2
HOF's: 4

[NYY #23]

Jan Valouch and Mike Bates were the two number one overall picks that were later elected to the Hall of Fame. The 2010's saw two players as busts, with Cal LaPlant the first number one overall pick to produce a negative WAR.

Total WAR: 485.1
Avg. WAR: 48.5
HOF's: 2

[NYY #23]

Only one player, Ethan Kurrle, was drafted as the number one overall pick and elected to the Hall of Fame. While only one player was elected to the Hall, only one player could be considered a bust too.

Total WAR: 403.5
Avg. WAR: 40.4
HOF's: 1

[NYY #23]

I'm not sure what happened in the 2030's, but teams seemed to forget how to draft. For the first time no number one overall pick was elected to the Hall of Fame, there were four players that were considered busts, and the total WAR of 245.5 is the worst to date.

Total WAR: 245.5
Avg. WAR: 24.6
HOF's: 0

[NYY #23]

The 2040's would be hit or miss with Hall of Famers Bryce Hibdon and Scot Parten selected first overall, but six of the ten draft picks would be busts. That resulted in a new low for Total WAR of 240.4.

Total WAR: 240.4
Avg. WAR: 24.0
HOF's: 2

[NYY #23]

Only one Hall of Famer, Roy Jackson, would be selected with the first overall draft pick and go to the Hall of Fame. The 2050's would see six number one overall picks fail to make it to the majors, and once again we set a new low for Total WAR of 163.1.

Total WAR: 163.1
Avg. WAR: 16.3
HOF's: 1