Countdown to Release OOTP 18

[Airdrop01]

And, a very good one... Lo Cain

[actionjackson]

Quite simply...He was the man. Stan Musial #6

[actionjackson]

He brought a winning attitude to a fledgling franchise. Bobby Cox #6

[actionjackson]

A fantastic fielding SS who learned from two of the best while he was in Cleveland with Roberto Alomar and Omar Vizquel. His Father's Day HR after the death of his father still gives me goosebumps. John McDonald #6

[actionjackson]

Sure he's small for a starting pitcher, but don't ever, ever question the size of his heart. The second pic is from his first start back in Yankee Stadium after a six month absence due to a torn ACL. Everybody said he couldn't make it back for the 2015 season when he tore it in early March, 2015 and he was back just about six months to the day of the injury. Then, everybody said he'd have to go to the bullpen upon his return, and his response was "Nope. I'm a starter.", and he did that too. Having seen the late fireworks from the Dominican Republic last night, his start against them is all the more impressive. Marcus "Stro Show" Stroman #6

[Germaniac]

ONe of the All-Time great Brooklyn Dodgers, #6 Carl Furillo

[Caporegime]

Thank the god of carpal tunnel syndrome relief that postimage.org is back up, so I don't have to re-upload all those images.

Anyway, here's the second player I wanted to share, Roy White. In stark contrast to guys like Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson and Sparky Lyle, Roy White was so quiet in the way he went about his business that people hardly knew he was there. He was a terrific defensive left-fielder with the range of a CF, and possessed an offensive skillset that would probably be better appreciated today, especially his patience at the plate.

[Caporegime]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

He brought a winning attitude to a fledgling franchise. Bobby Cox #6

Now that's an oldie but a goodie. I see Damaso Garcia, Alfredo Griffin, Ernie Whitt, and, I think, Rance Mulliniks in that pic. Oh, of course, Bobby Cox screaming his head off. The ump to the right of the one Cox is yelling at is Dale Ford, I think.

I'm going to guess that this pic is from 1983. Since it's obviously at Yankee Stadium, I'm going to guess further that Billy Martin was somehow behind this rare display of on-field emotion on the part of Cox, probably the result of some gamesmanship or other. For sure, Cox could be fiery at times, but he almost looks homicidal in that pic. Only the late Billy Martin could do that to an opposing manager.

[rjl518]

6 Days Left

Wally Backman

I feel he deserves a chance to manage a Major League team!

[wallewalls]

Came here to post Joe Torre, see it's already been taken, you guys are too quick!

[cavebutter]

There's only one player I could post for #6. The guy on my avatar; the guy with the Popeye forearms; the guy with the NL record for consecutive games played; the guy whose post-baseball political career was derailed (for better or worse) by a scandal that we wouldn't even blink at these days; the guy who'd be the backup first baseman on the All Time Really Very Good team; my boyhood hero: Steve Garvey.

[Caporegime]

Originally Posted by wallewalls

Came here to post Joe Torre, see it's already been taken, you guys are too quick!

Sorry about that. The problem for Yankee fans from this point going forward is that all the single digit numbers are retired, so our choices are limited. Still, that's no excuse not to share.

If you like, I'll stand aside so you can run the board and post all the remaining legends. It's only fair since I've already uploaded numbers 51 through 6. I can't, or course, guarantee that no one else will post images of the Joe D, Lou Gehrig, or the Babe, etc., so you'll still have to be quick.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Caporegime

Thank the god of carpal tunnel syndrome relief that postimage.org is back up, so I don't have to re-upload all those images.

Anyway, here's the second player I wanted to share, Roy White. In stark contrast to guys like Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson and Sparky Lyle, Roy White was so quiet in the way he went about his business that people hardly knew he was there. He was a terrific defensive left-fielder with the range of a CF, and possessed an offensive skillset that would probably be better appreciated today, especially his patience at the plate.

He would be much more appreciated in this age of WAR. From 1968 through 1977 (that's a 10 year stretch), he had a bWAR of 47.2, which is an average of 4.7 of course, but his per 650 PA rate was 5.3 in that time, which is said to be All-Star level. Anytime you can play at an All-Star level over 10 seasons, you are bringing it.

In that time period he slashed .277/.369/.417/.785, with a 128 OPS+ and a 129 wRC+. His fWAR during that time was 42.0, which puts him 4th at his position behind Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, and Willie Stargell and ahead of Billy Williams, Lou Brock (who WAR was never kind to), Joe Rudi, George Foster, Bob Bailey, and Bob Watson. That 42.0 fWAR is 13th amongst all players regardless of position during that time behind Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Carl Yastrzemski, Sal Bando, Rod Carew, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Smith, Tony Perez, Graig Nettles and Willie Stargell. He was in rareified air during that time, but was only an All-Star twice. Quiet indeed and underappreciated. Look at that list for a second: Morgan, Bench, Rose, and Perez in the top ten. Gawd, the Reds were absolutely loaded.

bWAR is even more kind to White and puts him tenth in that span behind Morgan, Bench, Jackson, Carew, Rose, Bando, Yastrzemski, Bonds and Smith. You can bet your boots that he's going to get more All-Star appearances in my OOTP random debut historical when he eventually shows up than he did IRL.

Yes, I used arbitrary endpoints in this sample, but to be that good over a 10 year period still shows that he was absolutely a quality player and underrated as hell.

[wallewalls]

Originally Posted by Caporegime

Sorry about that. The problem for Yankee fans from this point going forward is that all the single digit numbers are retired, so our choices are limited. Still, that's no excuse not to share.

If you like, I'll stand aside so you can run the board and post all the remaining legends. It's only fair since I've already uploaded numbers 51 through 6. I can't, or course, guarantee that no one else will post images of the Joe D, Lou Gehrig, or the Babe, etc., so you'll still have to be quick.

no it's ok lol, you've done them all so far, might as well finish it off. i also enjoy your write ups of the guys. keep on going, no worries

[swoboda]

Based on today's email from OOTP, I think we are ahead of where we should be right now

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Caporegime

Now that's an oldie but a goodie. I see Damaso Garcia, Alfredo Griffin, Ernie Whitt, and, I think, Rance Mulliniks in that pic. Oh, of course, Bobby Cox screaming his head off. The ump to the right of the one Cox is yelling at is Dale Ford, I think.

I'm going to guess that this pic is from 1983. Since it's obviously at Yankee Stadium, I'm going to guess further that Billy Martin was somehow behind this rare display of on-field emotion on the part of Cox, probably the result of some gamesmanship or other. For sure, Cox could be fiery at times, but he almost looks homicidal in that pic. Only the late Billy Martin could do that to an opposing manager.

It's actually from 1984, and the player you think is Mulliniks can't be Mulliniks because there's a 3 in his number. There was no #3 on the team that year, so that can't be it. That narrows it down to Jim Acker (#31), Doyle Alexander (#33), Bryan Clark (#35) (who it can't be because he was black and this guy is white), Jim Gott (#38), Ron Musselman (#30), or Dave Stieb (#37). I'm going with Gott. I don't see a 1B (usually Upshaw) or a 3B (usually Mulliniks or Iorg) in the shot.

[jparker2112]

Had to go with Robby Thompson!

[Chico Guilbault]

Great Scott! George Scott #5

[Caporegime]

Magic # is 5. We can now count the days until OOTP’s release on one hand.

He was just a man and not a freak, Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio is one of those players whose stats don’t tell the full story of how great he really was. In addition to losing three full seasons in his prime serving our country during WWII, DiMaggio’s career numbers, as impressive as they may be, were definitely minimized by playing half his games at the old, cavernous Yankee Stadium. The old Stadium was 457 ft. to left-center, and a monstrous 461 ft. to dead center. Despite that clear handicap, he still ranks 11th all-time in lifetime OPS (.9771). Not too shabby.

Numbers aside, DiMaggio was a cultural icon. In an age when the “strong silent type” was seen as the ideal of American masculinity (think John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, etc.), Joe D fit the mold perfectly. Until the day he died, DiMaggio always carried himself with quiet dignity and grace.

Joe DiMaggio #5


I know one should never say never, especially in baseball, but I sincerely believe no one in MLB will ever break DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. They say records are made to be broken, but some records are seemingly made to only inspire awe by the remote possibility of their ever being broken. This is one of those records.,

[Sam_15]

This guy was our shortstop for 7 brilliant years. His peak was one of the best I've seen in the last couple decades, at least from an infielder. He batted .323 in a Sox uni, won two batting titles, a Rookie of the Year award, and flashed a nifty glove. And in an age of 150 strikeout seasons being commonplace, he struck out just 554 times in 6116 career plate appearances. His 2000 season was something else: he hit .372 in 599 PA's, 21 homers, and struck out just 50 times. Unfortunately, he kind of disappeared after leaving town, so we won't be seeing him in the hall. #5 Nomar Garciaparra