2081: Desperation in Denver

[jamus23]

Hartford Whalers(96-66)



AT


Denver Broncos(105-57)

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9    R  H E 
Hartford 4 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0   10 13 0 
Denver   0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0    6  8 1

You know how I said not to expect Hartford to hit a lot of homeruns this series? All I can say is.... oops. In the top of the first inning of Game One, Louis Guerriero, John Rachal, and Ralph Jennings hit back to back to back homeruns. Guerriero's was a 2-run shot and the other two were solo blasts to give the Whalers a very quick 4-0 lead.

Hartford's lead didn't last long. In the bottom of the third, Denver's Booker Romero hit a run-scoring double with one out. Lee Chappel smacked a 2-out, 2-run homerun. Brooks Branco doubled in the tying run. Finally, Masahachirou Shunji delivered a run-scoring single to give the Broncos a 5-4 lead.

The Broncos' lead was even more short-lived than the Whalers'. In the top of the fourth inning, Lucas Bustamante scored from second base when third-baseman Michael Phillips committed a throwing error on a ground ball by Robert Perkins. Center-fielder Larry Romanowski added a sacrifice fly and Rachal hit a run-scoring single to make 7-5, in favor of Hartford.

Denver cut Hartford's lead to one run in the bottom of the fifth when Chappel homered for a second time.

Unfortunately, Louis Guerriero, who has been pretty much unstoppable all season long, also went deep for a second time. This one was a knockout blow- a 2-out, 3-run bomb in the eighth inning. That completed the scoring in a 10-6 Hartford victory.


Bruce Congdon took home the victory for the Whalers. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, gave up 7 hits and 6 runs, and 6 strikeouts against 1 walk. Louis Guerriero finished with 2 hits(both homeruns), 5 RBI, and 2 runs scored. John Rachal had 2 hits, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Robert Perkins and Norman Adrover both had 2 hits, 2 runs scored, and a walk.


Ray Lockridge was the losing pitcher. In 5 innings, he surrendered 8 hits and 7 runs(5 earned), and had 5 strikeouts against 3 walks. Lee Chappel had 2 hits(both homeruns), 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored.




Hartford leads the World Series, 1 game to none.

[jamus23]

Hartford Whalers(96-66)



AT


Denver Broncos(105-57)

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H E 
Hartford 0 3 1 0 3 0 0 0 0   7 10 1 
Denver   4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 X   9 12 1

The Broncos did all of their scoring in Game Two in the first two innings. It proved to be enough for the win, but just barely.

Center-fielder Russell Thomas led off the bottom of the 1st inning with a solo homerun. With one out in the inning, Brooks Branco singled in a run. Marvin Lore capped a 4-run first with a 2-out, 2-run homerun. Hartford quickly responded, however. In the top of the second, Roy Turner smashed a 3-run homerun, cutting Denver's lead to 1 run.

The Broncos immediately pulled away again. In the bottom of the second inning, Russell Thomas came around to score from second base when, during a double steal attempt, the Whalers' catcher, Norman Adrover, chucked the ball into left field. Arthur Stice produced a run-scoring single. Hartford starter Edward Chambliss balked in Brooks Branco from third base. Finally, Marvin Lore jacked his second 2-out, 2-run homerun of the day. That gave Denver a commanding 9-3 lead.

But Hartford wasn't about to just lay down. In the third inning, Ralph Jennings hit a solo homerun to make it 9-4. In the fifth inning, Jennings hit a sacrifice fly and Rene Barbosa delivered a 2-run single. The Broncos' lead had become rather precarious after once seeming quite secure. Unfortunately for the Whalers, Denver's bullpen proved up to the task of holding onto that 2 run lead, and the Broncos prevailed by a final score of 9-7.


Kenny Pillsbury wasn't overly effective, but he came away with the win nonetheless. Hartford scorched Pillsbury for 9 hits and 7 runs in 5 innings of work. He had 2 strikeouts against 3 walks. Marvin Lore finished with 3 hits(including 2 homers), 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Brooks Branco had 3 hits, 1 RBI, and 1 run scored. Lee Chappel had 2 hits and 2 runs scored. Russell Thomas had 1 hit, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a walk.


Losing pitcher Edward Chambliss didn't make it out of the second inning. In 1 2/3 innings pitched, he surrendered 9 hits and 8 runs(7 earned), and had 0 strikeouts against 1 walk. Roy Turner had 2 hits, 3 RBI, 1 run scored, and a walk. Ralph Jennings had 2 hits, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Rene Barbosa had 2 hits and 2 RBI. John Rachal had 1 hit, 2 runs scored, and a walk.


The World Series is tied, 1-1, and will now shift to Hartford for Games 3, 4, and 5.

[jamus23]

Denver Broncos(105-57)



AT


Hartford Whalers(96-66)

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E 
Denver   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1   1 7 0 
Hartford 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 X   3 7 2

After two high scoring games in the hitters' haven that is Denver, the first game of the series played in Hartford saw the pitchers take over. The Broncos' Robert McNett and the Whalers' Peter Boughner both put up goose-eggs for the first three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Hartford got on the board. First-baseman John Rachal hit a 2-out, RBI double to give the Whalers the lead.

It remained a 1-0 game until the seventh inning, when Louis Guerriero poked out a solo homerun for Hartford. An inning later, Roy Turner knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.

The Broncos tried to mount a rally in the ninth, but it didn't get very far. Infielder Jose Fuensanta managed a 2-out, pinch-hit, RBI single to at least avoid the shutout, but that was all. Hartford edged Denver, 3-1.


Peter Boughner tossed 8 2/3 innings and gave up 7 hits and 1 run, which was unearned. He had 4 strikeouts and 0 walks.

Robert McNett pitched well, but to no avail. He finished with 6 innings pitched, 3 hits and 1 run allowed, and 3 strikeouts against 1 walk.



Hartford leads the World Series, 2 games to 1.

[Dan Kalvoski]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. All I can say is win, win, win.
There is no other dynasty more deserving of a World Series on the planet.

[jamus23]

Denver Broncos(105-57)



AT


Hartford Whalers(96-66)

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E 
Denver   0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3   5 8 1 
Hartford 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0   1 4 0

Like Game Three, the fourth game of the 2086 World Series was another pitchers' duel. Ray Lockridge and Bruce Congdon, who also locked horns in Game One, put up matching zeros for the first five innings of this game. Denver was the first to break the ice, getting run-scoring singles from Brooks Branco and Marvin Lore in the top of the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Whalers got on the board. Catcher Norman Adrover ripped a solo homerun. Unfortunately for Hartford, the Broncos pulled away in the ninth inning. Russell Thomas hit a 2-out, 2-run double and Lee Chappel followed with a double of his own to drive in Thomas. The Whalers' offense had nothing to say in the bottom of the ninth, and Denver pulled out a 5-1 victory.


Ray Lockridge shut down Hartford's lineup, with just 4 hits and 1 run allowed in 7 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out 3 and walked none. Lee Chappel had 1 hit, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, and 2 walks. Marvin Lore had 2 hits and an RBI. Arthur Stice walked 3 times and scored a run.


Bruce Congdon's performance was... erratic. In 7 innings, he allowed only 5 hits and 2 runs. He also piled up 10 strikeouts. On the other hand, he also issued 7 walks.



The World Series is tied, 2-2.

[jamus23]

Originally Posted by Dan Kalvoski

Longtime lurker, first time poster. All I can say is win, win, win.
There is no other dynasty more deserving of a World Series on the planet.

Hey, thanks for reading, and posting! Glad my thread brought you out of lurker-dom.

[jamus23]

Denver Broncos(105-57)



AT


Hartford Whalers(96-66)

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E 
Denver   0 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 0   5 8 1 
Hartford 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0   2 5 0

The third, and final, game of this World Series to be played in Hartford was much like the first two: close and low-scoring. The Broncos got on the board first, in the top of the third inning, when shortstop Arthur Stice was hit by a pitch with 2 outs and the bases loaded. Denver's lead was short-lived, however. In the bottom half of the third, Hartford's Louis Guerriero drilled a 2-run homerun. Of course, the Whalers' lead didn't last any longer than the Broncos' had. In the top of the fourth inning, second-baseman Adrian Mingo delivered a run-scoring single to tie the game up.

It remained a 2-2 game through six innings, but in the seventh, Denver retook the lead. Lee Chappel hit a sacrifice fly, and Brooks Branco and Marvin Lore each had 2-out, RBI singles. The Broncos' pitching did the rest, and Denver hung on for a 5-2 victory.


Kenny Pillsbury tossed 8 innings, and gave up just 4 hits and 2 runs(1 earned). He punched out 7 batters and walked 2. At the plate, Pillsbury also contributed with 3 walks and 2 runs scored. Adrian Mingo rapped out 4 hits and drove in a run. Lee Chappel had 3 hits and an RBI.


Edward Chambliss lasted longer in this start than he did in Game Two, but he wasn't much more effective. In 6 2/3 innings, he gave up 7 hits and 5 runs, and had 2 strikeouts against 6 walks.


Denver leads the World Series, 3 games to 2.

[jamus23]

Hartford Whalers(96-66)



AT


Denver Broncos(105-57)

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E 
Hartford 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0   2 7 3 
Denver   1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1   3 8 1

With Denver 1 win away from becoming world champions for the first time in franchise history and Hartford 1 loss away from its 4th World Series defeat in as many appearances, it was important for both teams to get off to a quick start. To a certain extent, they did. The Whalers drew first blood in the top of the first inning, getting a sacrifice fly from catcher Norman Adrover. In the bottom half of the first, however, the Broncos got a run-scoring ground-out from Marvin Lore.

After that, though, starting pitchers Robert McNett and Peter Boughner took over. The game remained deadlocked at 1-1 through the second inning. And the third inning. And the fourth. And the fifth. And the sixth. Finally, in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Broncos grabbed the lead. Infielder Adrian Mingo singled in a run with one out. The Broncos were just 6 outs away from glory.

Naturally, Denver's bullpen, which has been shaky for much of the postseason, immediately coughed up the lead. Hartford's first-baseman John Rachal hit a 2-out, RBI single in the eighth inning, and the game was tied up again.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, however, the Broncos got something that has been hard to come by in their postseason history: a clutch hit. With 2 outs, shortstop Arthur Stice drove in the game- and series-winning run with a single. The Denver Broncos earned their first ever World Series victory with a 3-2 win.


Robert McNett throttled Hartford's lineup, but did not get the win. In 7 innings, he gave up 5 hits and 1, unearned run. He struck out 6 batters and walked 2. Relief pitcher Robert Soto was the winning pitcher; he pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings with 1 hit allowed. Alexis Vazquez had 3 hits in the contest. Adrian Mingo had 1 hit, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, and 1 walk. Russell Thomas had 2 hits and a run scored.


Peter Boughner had another excellent start. In 7 innings, he gave up 7 hits and 2 runs(1 earned). He had 3 strikeouts against 0 walks. Reliever Pete West was charged with the loss. He didn't give up any hits in 1 1/3 innings pitched, but he walked 2 batters and gave up a run. He also struck out 2 batters. Ralph Jennings had 2 hits and a run scored for Hartford.


The Denver Broncos have won the 2086 World Series, 4 games to 2.



Naming a World Series MVP isn't an easy task, but from Denver, the best candidate would almost certainly be catcher Lee Chappel, who posted a batting line of .250/.423/.650/1.073 in 20 at bats, and had 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, 5 RBI, 5 runs scored, and 6 walks.

Other Broncos' candidates would include: Russell Thomas, who led the Broncos with 8 hits. Marvin Lore, who led the team with 7 RBI, and tied for the team lead with 2 homeruns. On the pitching side, Robert McNett posted a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings pitched and had 9 strikeouts against 3 walks; however, his won-loss record was just 0-1.

Although the Whalers lost, they actually had 3 players with fairly good arguments for the WS MVP. Louis Guerriero posted a .989 OPS and led all players with 4 homeruns and 8 RBI. Ralph Jennings posted a 1.114 OPS, and had 8 hits, 3 doubles, 2 homeruns, 3 RBI, and 4 runs scored. Pitcher Peter Boughner had a 0.57 ERA in 15 2/3 innings, 7 strikeouts against 0 walks, and a 1-0 record.


The MVP for the entire postseason has to be Louis Guerriero, who had a batting line of .391/.431/.859/1.290 in 64 at bats. He collected 25 hits, including 9 doubles and 7 homeruns, and had 26 RBI and 14 runs scored.

Also making strong arguments were Ralph Jennings(1.090 OPS, 23 hits, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homeruns, 12 RBI, and 15 runs scored), Lee Chappel(.950 OPS, 22 hits, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 4 homeruns, 17 RBI, 13 runs scored, and 11 walks), Russell Thomas(.921 OPS, 27 hits, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homeruns, 13 RBI, and 18 runs scored), and Peter Boughner(2-0 in 4 starts, with a 0.59 ERA, 11 strikeouts, and 0 walks in 30 1/3 innings pitched).


Here are the final postseason stats for both teams:

Denver's Postseason Batting Stats:

Name          G AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K  AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS 
R. Thomas    19 80 27  5  1  3  13 18  4  9 .338 .384 .538  .921 
A. Stice     19 74 13  3  0  3  13  8  6 14 .176 .250 .338  .588 
L. Chappel   19 73 22  5  1  4  17 13 11  3 .301 .388 .562  .950 
M. Lore      19 71 20  2  0  5  12  8  7 10 .282 .346 .521  .867 
M. Shunji    18 65 15  6  0  1  10  6  3 17 .231 .265 .369  .634 
B. Romero    17 61 18  4  0  1   7  8  2 12 .295 .317 .410  .727 
M. Phillips  18 58 13  0  0  1   5  7  6  8 .224 .292 .276  .568 
B. Branco    17 51 10  3  1  1   7 12 14  7 .196 .369 .353  .722 
E. Bolling   17 51 12  5  0  0   2  8  6 16 .235 .316 .333  .649 
A. Vasquez   10 29  9  1  0  0   2  2  1  3 .310 .375 .345  .720 
A. Mingo      3  9  5  1  0  0   2  3  1  2 .556 .600 .667 1.267 
R. Shults     3  3  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0 .000 .250 .000  .250 
J. Fuensanta  2  2  1  0  0  0   1  0  0  0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 
R. Lockridge  1  2  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2 .000 .333 .000  .333 
R. Mcnett     1  2  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1 .000 .000 .000  .000 
K. Pillsbury  1  1  0  0  0  0   0  2  3  0 .000 .750 .000  .750

Denver's Postseason Pitching Stats:

Name         G GS W L SV  ERA   IP HA  R ER BB  K 
R. Mcnett    6  6 1 1  0 2.25 40.0 39 17 10  7 23 
K. Pillsbury 6  6 3 2  0 4.89 38.2 43 24 21  9 27 
R. Lockridge 5  5 3 2  0 3.31 32.2 30 14 12  7 32 
W. Ortiz     2  2 0 1  0 7.50 12.0 15 10 10  5  5 
C. Saari     8  0 1 1  1 6.17 11.2 12  9  8  5  9 
L. Ruvalcaba 9  0 2 0  6 0.84 10.2 11  3  1  2  7 
R. Soto      8  0 2 0  1 5.40 10.0 16  7  6  1  2 
L. Gwinn     5  0 0 0  0 5.06  5.1  6  3  3  2  5 
A. Haider    3  0 0 0  0 6.00  3.0  3  2  2  2  3 
T. Fons      1  0 0 0  0 0.00  2.0  1  0  0  0  1

Hartford's Postseason Batting Stats:

Name           G AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K  AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS 
R. Perkins    16 65 17  3  0  0  10 10  5  6 .262 .301 .308  .609 
L. Guerriero  16 64 25  9  0  7  26 14  4 10 .391 .431 .859 1.290 
R. Jennings   16 63 23  5  2  4  12 15  3  3 .365 .391 .698 1.090 
J. Rachal     16 63 16  2  0  1  10  9  5 10 .254 .309 .333  .642 
N. Adrover    16 59 12  0  0  1   7  9  2  8 .203 .234 .254  .489 
R. Turner     16 58 16  0  0  4  11 12  9 11 .276 .368 .483  .850 
L. Bustamante 16 57 19  3  0  1   6  9  3  2 .333 .377 .439  .816 
L. Romanowski 13 43 13  2  3  0   4  9  6  5 .302 .385 .488  .873 
R. Barbosa    14 34  9  2  0  0   3  4  2  9 .265 .306 .324  .629 
B. Congdon     5 14  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  8 .000 .059 .000  .059 
P. Boughner    3  8  2  0  0  1   1  1  0  1 .250 .222 .625  .847 
B. Frau        6  7  2  1  0  1   2  1  0  2 .286 .286 .857 1.143 
E. Chambliss   5  6  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  4 .000 .100 .000  .100 
R. Gomez       4  3  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0 .333 .500 .333  .833 
J. Langlais    3  3  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  1 .333 .333 .333  .667 
S. Bustamante  3  2  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000  .000 
R. Herb        4  2  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000  .000 
M. Delmonte    1  1  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1 .000 .000 .000  .000

Hartford's Postseason Pitching Stats:

Name         G GS W L SV  ERA   IP HA  R ER BB  K 
B. Congdon   6  6 4 2  0 3.72 46.0 35 20 19 22 40 
P. Boughner  4  4 2 0  0 0.59 30.1 26  8  2  0 11 
E. Chambliss 6  6 3 3  0 8.80 29.2 43 32 29 26 19 
M. Larson    9  0 0 0  1 3.97 11.1  9  5  5  2 10 
R. Banton    7  0 0 0  0 2.70 10.0  9  3  3  7  5 
P. West      7  0 1 1  0 1.23  7.1  3  1  1  2  6 
J. Alvarado  6  0 0 0  5 3.86  4.2  4  2  2  4  4 
M. Leto      2  0 0 0  0 3.86  2.1  3  1  1  2  2

In a few days, I will post the 2086 Award Winners.

[jamus23]

National League Silver Slugger Award:

No surprise here- Hartford third-baseman Louis Guerriero was a shoe-in for the Silver Slugger Award after becoming just the 3rd player in league history to win the Triple Crown. In addition to leading the National League with a .380 batting average, 47 homeruns, and 176 RBI, Guerriero also paced the NL in slugging percentage(.755), OPS(1.183), hits(234), doubles(78), runs scored(132), and extra base hits(131). His .428 on base percentage ranked 3rd in the NL. This was Guerriero's first career Silver Slugger Award. It was the first Silver Slugger won by a Hartford player since Hall of Fame second-baseman Ricky Vega in 2078.


National League Cy Young Award:

He may or may not have been the best choice, but San Jose's Juan Echeveste took home the NL Cy Young Award after posting an NL-best 24 wins(against 6 losses). Echeveste's 2.78 ERA ranked 6th in the league. He tied for 5th in the league with 2 shutouts. His 236 innings pitched ranked 10th. He was also 6th in the league in baserunners allowed per 9 innings, 9th in hits allowed per 9 innings, and 11th in walks allowed per 9 innings. This was Echeveste's 1st career Cy Young Award, and the first won by a San Jose pitcher since Hall of Famer Thomas Plaza in 2067. Incidentally, Plaza's was the last of 5 consecutive Cy Youngs won by Sharks' pitchers; Plaza himself won 4 of those awards.


National League Rookie of the Year Award:

Twenty-year old Portland shortstop, Martin Colon, was deemed the best National League rookie of the 2086 season after hitting .286/.335/.452/.787, with 136 hits, 24 doubles, 2 triples, 17 homeruns, 72 RBI, and 61 runs scored. Colon is the first Portland player to win the ROTY since right-fielder Walter House in 2065.


National League Gold Glove Awards:

Pitcher: San Diego's Delbert Spicher(5th)
Catcher: Sacramento's Roy Isenhour(1st)
First Base: Hartford's John Rachal(1st)
Second Base: Hartford's Lucas Bustamante(1st)
Third Base: Portland's John Vargo(2nd)
Shortstop: Harrisburg's Daniel Underwood(1st)
Left Field: Sacramento's Ramon Montalvo(4th)
Center Field: New Jersey's Herbert Baldridge(1st)
Right Field: Buffalo's John Kling(1st)

Only 3 other pitchers have won as many Gold Gloves as Delbert Spicher: Hall of Famer Walter Macias, with 9; Eric Bailey, with 6; and Castor Herreros, with 5. Left-fielder Ramon Montalvo is only 2 Gold Gloves away from tying with Hall of Famer Josias Fernandez and Samuel Lei for the most all time.



American League Silver Slugger Award:

Unlike in the National League, there wasn't really a clear cut choice in the American League for the Silver Slugger. Most of the main batting categories were led by different players and no one had a strong enough season to be the obvious winner. Thus, this year's winner is both a reasonable and questionable selection. The award went to Denver's center-fielder, Russell Thomas, who led the American League in batting average(.382) and hits(257). He ranked 7th in on base percentage(.423), 10th in slugging percentage(.552), 5th in OPS(.975), 12th in RBI(114), 2nd in runs scored(135), and 11th in stolen bases(22). This is Thomas' first career Silver Slugger Award, and the 5th won by a Denver player in the past 6 seasons(Lee Chappel won in '81 and '84, and Alexis Vazquez won in '82 and '83).


American League Cy Young Award:

This wasn't a difficult choice. Miami's Christian Hokusai paced the American League in ERA(2.34), quality starts, base runners allowed per 9 innings, hits allowed per 9 innings, and strikeouts per 9 innings. He tied for 2nd in the league with 21 wins(against 8 losses), was 3rd in the league strikeouts(227), tied for 4th in shutouts(2), and 7th in walks allowed per 9 innings. This was Hokusai's first Cy Young Award, and the second straight for Miami(Ramon Baston won last season).


American League Rookie of the Year Award:

This was a pretty weak year for rookies in the American League, so the 2086 AL ROTY didn't exactly have an impressive season. Denver's 31 year old starting pitcher Walter Ortiz got his opportunity early in the year when George Buentello was lost for the season with an injury. In 27 starts, Ortiz went 8-8, with a 5.19 ERA. In 166 1/3 innings pitched, he recorded 101 strikeouts, walked 61 batters, and had a 1.62 WHIP. He ranked 5th in the American League in homeruns allowed per 9 innings. Ortiz is the first Denver player to win the ROTY since catcher Lee Chappel in 2073.


American League Gold Glove Awards:

Pitcher: Washington's Lester Faulk(2nd)
Catcher: Kansas City's Harold Glaspie(1st)
First Base: Atlanta's Peter Peed(3rd)
Second Base: Knoxville's Jack Forrester(5th)
Third Base: Atlanta's Raymond Stair(5th)
Shortstop: Atlanta's Roger Attaway(5th)
Left Field: Memphis' Terrell Carrillo(2nd)
Center Field: Miami's Daniel Armas(2nd)
Right Field: Tucson's Richard Billips(1st)

Second-baseman Jack Forrester is only 2 Gold Gloves away from tying Brian Ferrara, Hall of Famer Bill Criss, and David Fredricks for a record 7. Likewise, Raymond Stair is only 2 away from the record for third-baseman, held by Joel Muir. Shortstop Roger Attaway is 3 Gold Gloves away from Adam Denby's record 8.

[Afino]

Good to see you finally break through after all these years and all of these well-written posts!

[jamus23]

And now it's time for the annual look at the best, and the worst, players at each position for this past season. Position players are limited to only those who qualified for the batting title, while only the starting pitchers that qualified for the ERA title are considered. The statistic used to identify the best and worst position players is Runs created per 27 outs, while ERA is used for the starting pitchers.

Note: The "Q#" column indicates the number of players at that position that qualified for the batting title, while the number in parentheses next to the "Starting Pitchers" heading indicates the number of pitchers that qualified for the ERA title.


National League All Pros

POS Q#          Player Team RC/27
  C  6      Gary Jones  POR   7.4
 1B 11  James Sequeira  PIT   9.3
 2B 10   Ramon Charron   NJ   7.9
 3B 10 Louis Guerriero  HFD  13.0
 SS  9  Alberto Ocampo  SAC   9.2
 LF  9   Gregorio Ruiz   SD   9.7
 CF  9      Gaby Matos   SD   9.8
 RF 10      John Kling  BUF   7.8

Starting Pitchers(44)

          Player Team  ERA
 Kenneth Chancey   NJ 2.39
   Carlos Lozoya   SD 2.50
Christopher Kirk  POR 2.55
      Mose Urick  ROC 2.55
   Joseph Oliver  BUF 2.67

National League All Schmoes

POS Q#           Player Team RC/27
  C  6       Lucien Lum  BUF   3.8
 1B 11       Bill Bruch  POR   3.8
 2B 10    Keith Mueller  PHO   4.3
 3B 10 Bruce Strickland  SAC   4.5
 SS  9  Benito Cubillas  PIT   3.0
 LF  9    Ralph Ferrari  BUF   5.8
 CF  9   Tristan Straub  ROC   4.3
 RF 10 Matthew Milewski  SAC   4.6

Starting Pitchers(44)

             Player Team  ERA
  Emanuel Martorell  POR 7.20
   Edward Carbonell  PIT 6.87
    Jerry Zimmerman  POR 6.47
       Bruno Pagano  SAC 6.42
Francisco Maldonado  ROC 6.29

American League All Pros

POS Q#            Player Team RC/27
  C  8       Lee Chappel  DEN  10.1
 1B 13  Kenny Perry, Jr.   GR   9.4
 2B  6   Nicholas Keough  ATL   8.7
 3B 10      Kenneth Tebo   GR   8.6
 SS 10      Todd Lindsey  CHA   8.1
 LF 11 Albert Chichester  MIA   7.5
 CF 13    Russell Thomas  DEN   9.9
 RF 11   Flavio Trujillo  ATL  10.6

Starting Pitchers(43)

           Player Team  ERA
Christian Hokusai  MIA 2.34
  Russell Mangano  MEM 3.22
    Robert McNett  DEN 3.24
      Rene Romero  KNO 3.40
     Ramon Baston  MIA 3.68

American League All Schmoes

POS Q#            Player Team RC/27
  C  8    Harold Glaspie   KC   5.1
 1B 13        Peter Peed  ATL   4.6
 2B  6        Gary Benny   GR   3.9
 3B 10      Mike Sanders  WAS   4.2
 SS 10 Francisco Alvarez  MIA   3.4
 LF 11       Roy Springs  WAS   4.3
 CF 13      Bryan Jusino  WAS   4.8
 RF 11        Chet Prime   KC   5.0

Starting Pitchers(43)

         Player Team  ERA
  Andrew Barnes  ATL 7.62
Micheal Schmalz  NAS 7.17
Christian Crane   KC 6.47
   John Pannell  NAS 6.12
    Aldo Barnes  KNO 6.04

[jamus23]

Originally Posted by Afino

Good to see you finally break through after all these years and all of these well-written posts!

Thanks!

It's been frustrating at times, as I thought that it would have happened sooner than it did, and even after finally doing it, I wasn't sure that it actually happened.

This seems like a good segue to posing a question to any readers of this thread:

What now?

I could continue with a Denver-centric focus. Sure, the Broncos have finally won a championship, but the team is still going through a retooling period. Longtime players like Ellis Bolling and Alexis Vazquez are 38 years old, eligible for free agency, and will likely not be retained. They may even retire. Other key players like Lee Chappel, Russell Thomas, Kenny Pillsbury, and Ray Lockridge are also in their mid-30's and will likely start declining in the next year or two. Thus, Denver's story may still be of interest, even if the Broncos are no longer so "desperate." I'm o.k. with sticking with this format, but I am also kind of interested in doing something different.

Another possibility would be to pick another team to focus on, preferably one that has been struggling as of late. The most likely candidates would include: Harrisburg, which is one of just 2 original teams that has never won a championship(the other, of course, is Hartford); Phoenix, which has never had a winning season since entering the league in 2064 and is currently a financial disaster-which would make it an interesting challenge; Charlotte, which had the worst record in the league this past season and has generally been unsuccessful since entering the league in '64; and Portland, which has been pretty awful for the past decade. There are other teams which might be acceptable, but those 4 would probably be the most compelling. On the other hand, my thread title would be rendered rather irrelevant by switching teams, so I guess I'd have to start a new thread if I did that.

A third possibility would be to go to a more league-centric approach instead of focusing especially on any one team. To a certain extent, I was already kind of doing that this past season, although I was still posting Denver's monthly batting and pitching stats.

One other thing that I've been considering is to take a step back from the "present day" and try and get back to the Hall of Fame Bios that I was doing. If I did that, I wouldn't report much on the current goings-on of the league- maybe a brief season preview and periodic standings reports. Instead, I would do nothing but Bios until I got caught up to the present day. There are currently 73 Hall of Famers that I still have to do Bios for, plus any new inductees after this season. Once I finished doing the Bios, I would return to focusing on the present day, although in what capacity, I'm not sure.

I'm also open to any suggestions that anyone has. I want to be doing something that people look forward to reading. So, if you've got any ideas, let me see them!

[Afino]

I'd be up to learn about the HOF'ers.

[Dan Kalvoski]

Do what you want ... it's been a great read, but I'm afraid everything else is likely to feel like an anticlimax.

[24Rocks]

Learnen about the HOFers would be cool.

[jamus23]

Okay, so I guess that I will pick up where I left off with the Hall of Fame Bios. The league itself will continue, and I might do updates for the All Star break and the playoffs, but other than that, I will focus exclusively on the Hall of Fame. To that end, I have provided links to the posts of all of the previous Bios in case any new readers want to read them, or any old readers want to reread them, without digging through the whole thread to find them. I have bolded the players that I feel are of the most interest, because, obviously, there are quite a few players. I should also point out that some of the information in these Bios may no longer be accurate(i.e. at the time that I wrote the Bio, a player may have ranked, say, 10th in a particular category, but may have since been passed up.)

SS Scott Border
SP John Caylor
SP Valentin Sojo
2B Justin Ginn
LF Kangorou Yataro
SS Timothy Knight
2B Dave Gonsalves
RF Wanisaborou Takakazu
CF Micheal Bruce
1B Carlos Testa
1B John Esquivel
2B Tony Martinez
C Odon Lobo
SS Cody Newport
SS Michael Mathew
3B Devin Stalter
SP Robert Jordan
SS Hector Abad
SP Jacob Jackson
CF Emilio Fernandez
2B Bill Criss
SS Jose Rocha
RF Nathan Keith
CL Craig Posada
2B Carlos Camuñas
1B Vern Harrison
LF Abdiel Llorent
LF Josias Fernandez
SP Jeremy Poss
LF Ernesto Morabito
CF Francisco Mattos
1B Pierre Sanchez
LF Greg Dossantos
LF Juan Lantigua
CF Eduardo Rodas
RF Jason Dockins
CF Benjamin Middlebrook
LF Agustin Rivas
LF Emmett Serpa
RF Antwan Leanos
3B Gerald Lipscomb
SS Danny Homan
CL Luis Velasco
3B Donald Murillo
CF Emanuel Maxon
CF Tod Tsukasa
SP George Vives
SS James Holsinger
LF Matthew Allman
2B Walton Fredericks
RF Billy Stoltzfus
SP Manuel Reno
LF Peter Allman
LF John Rockwood
C Maurice Knox
SP Hector Soriano
SP Alex Castilleja
RF Fabian Rosas and 3B Walter Mara
RF Tito Alvarez
1B Earl Quon
C James Paras
3B Randy Tapp
SP Walter Macias
RF Alex Solis
LF Ariel Cuesta and SS John Hickok
1B Jasper Pugh



The next Bio on the agenda will be a combined one dealing with the 2nd and 3rd pitchers to reach 300 career victories. I will have it up some time in the next week, hopefully.

[jamus23]

SP Robert McComas:

300 wins. There are many ways to evaluate the quality of pitchers, but that rarest of milestones remains the gold standard. It is an achievement that separates the very good, even great, pitchers, from the all time elite. To reach that hallowed number, a pitcher must be both excellent and durable. A bad pitcher will not win 300. A good, but injury-prone pitcher, will not win 300. Those pitchers that have won 300 have been great pitchers, with very long, injury-free, careers. But there have not been many. In over 80 years of baseball, more than 30 players have reached 3,000 career hits. More than 30 have reached 500 homeruns, and 16 have reached 600. Fifteen have reached 2,000 RBI, and nine have scored 2,000 runs. How many players have reached 300 career wins? 4.

The first was that great strikeout artist, Robert Jordan, who intimidated opposing hitters from 2007 to 2027, while pitching for Grand Rapids, Harrisburg, Atlanta, and Washington. When Jordan reached 300 career victories in 2024, and closed out his career with 335, many thought that mark would never be surpassed. As the years passed, it became questionable as to whether anyone else would even reach 300. Jeremy Poss got to 295 before calling it quits. George Vives reached 285. By the end of the 2050 season, Jordan remained the only 300-game winner, and the latest challenger, Alex Castilleja, was a 39 year old in his final season. He had come up short, at 285 wins. But there were two pitchers tied at 283 career victories. Both were 36 years old, and both, coincidentally enough, had the same first name as Jordan: Robert. Could either, or both, of these pitchers join Jordan in the 300 club? Or would they, like many before them, come up short? Before we answer that question, let's find out how these two pitchers got to this point.

The first of these two pitchers was left-hander Robert McComas. Originally drafted 10th overall by Nashville in 2035, McComas' tenure with the Predators was short-lived. In early June of the '35 season, Nashville sent McComas and a minor prospect to Atlanta in exchange for veteran center-fielder, and future Hall of Famer, Benjamin Middlebrook. The young pitcher spent the bulk of his first professional season with the Braves' AA team, and pitched quite well: he had a 3.03 ERA in 26 starts. That earned him a cup of coffee in September for the last place Braves(65-97), but unfortunately, his first taste of the big leagues did not go so well. He made 4 starts, but pitched a total of only 13 innings, and managed to surrender 31 hits and 22 earned runs. McComas began his second season in Atlanta's rotation, but continued to struggle. In 6 April starts that season, he had an ERA just under 9.00 and walked more batters than he struck out. The Braves briefly demoted him to the minors at the start of May, where he made 1 start. He returned to the big leagues and pitched somewhat better. He got knocked around again in June, recovered a bit in July and August, and slumped again in September. His rookie season ended with fairly unimpressive numbers: a 9-14 record and a 7.00 ERA. Atlanta, meanwhile, improved to 71-91 and finished in 3rd place in the Southeast Division.

2037 would prove to be a breakthrough season for both Mccomas and Atlanta. McComas got off to a slow start, but pitched quite well in the second half of the season. He finished the season with 18 wins and a quite respectable 4.13 ERA. Atlanta produced an 88-74 record and won the Southeast by 2 games over Washington. It was the Braves' first division title since 2021. Atlanta's opponent in the ALCS was Grand Rapids, which paced the AL with 93 victories. The Braves and the Tigers tied for first in all of baseball in runs scored, and had pitching staffs of fairly similar caliber: Grand Rapids ranked 10th in runs allowed while Atlanta ranked 11th. Unfortunately for the Braves, their pitching proved unable to slow down Grand Rapids' lineup, and the Tigers outscored Atlanta 39-25 in a 6-game series victory. It didn't help that one of Atlanta's better starters, Sam Hall(17-12, 4.55 ERA) got injured right before the playoffs began, causing the Braves to turn to John Fink(1-15, 10.06 ERA) as a 3rd starter. Needless to say, that was a disaster. For Mccomas' part, despite his solid regular season, he struggled in the ALCS. In 2 starts, he had an ERA of 6.00, and managed to walk 10 batters in 15 innings pitched.

The expansion year of 2038 was a good one for McComas and Atlanta. McComas went 14-10 with a 3.52 ERA and was named to his first All Star team. The Braves won their second straight division title, posting a 94-68 record to hold off Nashville and Washington, which both won 92 games. That got them the chance to face the powerful Tucson Diamondbacks, who won 106 games to edge out the 105-win Memphis Grizzlies for first place in the Central. Despite being outscored 31-16 by Tucson over the first 5 games of the series, the Braves held a 3 games to 2 lead. The Diamondbacks rallied, however, winning Game Six by a score of 8-6. In the seventh game, Tucson grabbed a quick 2-1 lead after 2 innings and it stayed that way until the top of the 9th inning. Reserve outfielder John Cohan, who had hit .440 with a 1.072 OPS in 50 regular season at bats and had come into the game to play left field after Matthew Allman had been replaced by a pinch runner earlier in the game, smacked a game-tying homerun with 1 out. Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, earning a trip to the World Series in the process. Once again, McComas performed poorly in the postseason. In 2 starts, he surrendered 20 hits and 13 runs, and had an 11.70 ERA.

If '38 was the year that McComas turned into a good pitcher, then 2039 was the year he turned into a star. McComas captured his first Cy Young Award after posting a 26-8 record with a 2.90 ERA. His win total paced the American League, while his ERA ranked 3rd, and his 15 complete games ranked 2nd. Atlanta had another strong campaign, winning 97 games, but finished in second place, 2 games behind Knoxville. McComas wasn't quite as good in 2040- he went 17-7 with a 3.39 ERA and missed about a month and a half combined due to a couple of injuries- but the Braves posted a 99-63 record and took home their 3rd Southeast Division title in 4 years. Like in '38, Atlanta's ALCS opponent would be the Tucson Diamondbacks. For the first time, McComas pitched effectively in the postseason, with a 2.70 ERA in 2 starts. Unfortunately, he lost both outings, and the Braves were outscored 25-11 in the first 5 games of the series. Tucson led 3 games to 2 heading into the sixth game, but Atlanta forced a seventh game with a 9-5 Game Six victory. The Braves drew 10 walks in the victory. Game Seven proved anticlimactic, however. The Diamondbacks raced to a 4-0 lead after three innings, and after the Braves crept to within 1 run in the sixth inning, they pulled away for a comfortable, 9-4 victory.

This Atlanta team team had three of the biggest stars of the era in McComas, first-baseman Earl Quon, and left-fielder Matthew Allman, so it would have been a surprise to many to learn that it would be nearly 30 years before the Braves played in the postseason again(2068). The second place team in 2040 was the Miami Dolphins, a team that would soon dominate all of baseball.

McComas earned his second 20-win season in 2041, recording a 21-11 won-loss record, to go with a 3.16 ERA. Atlanta posted a respectable 90-72 record, but that was only good enough for third place, behind Knoxville(103 wins) and Washington(101 wins). The Braves slumped to 77-85 in 2042, while McComas went 18-12, with a 3.21 ERA, and a league-leading 17 complete games. In '43, the Braves muddled through a 70-92 season. McComas fared better, with a 21-10 record and a 3.04 ERA. He also made his 4th trip to the All Star game, and began a streak of 9 consecutive appearances in the mid-summer classic.

Although Atlanta had yet another mediocre season in 2044(72-90), McComas captured his second Cy Young Award. He led the league in wins(21), ERA(2.81), innings pitched(291 2/3), and shutouts(5). He also recorded what would be a career high 198 strikeouts. Atlanta finished in last place for the first time in a decade in 2045(71-91), but that didn't stop McComas from dominating once again. He went 19-5(3rd in the league in wins) with a 2.59 ERA(good for 2nd in the AL). He also pitched a league-best 288 innings. The Braves were somewhat better in 2046, but still mediocre, finishing with a 79-83 record. McComas led the league with a career-best 2.22 ERA, but an injury late in the season limited him to 27 starts and "only" 16 wins(against 4 losses).

In 2047, McComas took home his 3rd Cy Young Award, despite once again missing a good portion of the season with an injury. He posted a brilliant 21-3 record and led the American League with a 2.38 ERA. Alas, Atlanta struggled through a 77-85 season, wasting his dominant performance. In '48, McComas managed a 22-9 record with a 3.30 ERA, while Atlanta tied for fourth place, with a 79-83 record. It was the same story in 2049: McComas had a 22-7 won-loss record and a 3.35 ERA, but the Braves finished with an unimpressive 75-87 record.

McComas had his last great season in 2050. He posted an 18-5 record and finished 2nd in the league with a 2.73 ERA. Atlanta, meanwhile, managed its first winning season since 2041. The Braves finished with a 96-66 record, but despite going 10-10 against the Miami Dolphins during the regular season, they finished in 2nd place, 4 games behind those same Dolphins. Miami, of course, rolled to its 4th World Series title in 9 seasons.

Atlanta remained a solid team in 2051, finishing with a 92-70 record. Unfortunately, that was only good enough for third place in the Southeast. McComas had a solid campaign, with a 19-7 record and a 3.50 ERA. He also made his 12th, and final, trip to the All Star game. More importantly, on July 31 of the '51 season, McComas became the third pitcher in league history- and the second that year- to reach 300 career victories. He earned that milestone victory in Denver by scattering 7 hits and 1 run over 8 1/3 innings pitched. He neither struck out nor walked any batters in the performance.

The Braves weren't too bad in 2052, as they finished with an 87-75 record. Of course, once again, that was only enough for a third place finish. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for McComas. The 38-year old pitcher suffered through his worst season since 2036; he mustered just a 12-11 record and had a mediocre 5.13 ERA. In 2053, Atlanta slumped to a 73-89 record, while McComas' numbers continued to drop. He went just 7-12 with a 6.06 ERA, and had his lowest game, games started, innings pitched, strikeout, complete game, and shutout totals in a full season. He was also sent to the minors in early August, where he made 5 unimpressive starts. Atlanta did not offer him a contract extension following the '53 season. Although the writing was clearly on the wall at this point, McComas did not officially retire until after the 2054 season.

At the time of his retirement, McComas ranked 3rd all time in wins, 2nd in complete games, 2nd in shutouts, and 16th in ERA. As of the end of the 2086 season, McComas ranked 4th all time in wins, 3rd in complete games, and 3rd in shutouts. McComas remained in the top 25 of ERA until the 2074 season.

Unlike many of the great starting pitchers in league history, McComas didn't overpower opposing hitters. Despite his extremely high innings pitched totals, he never reached 200 strikeouts in a season, and his career total is relatively unimpressive. Only 4 current Hall of Fame pitchers had fewer career strikeouts, and that is largely because those pitchers failed to reach 3,000 career innings pitched. There is one other HoF pitcher that pitched fewer than 3,000 innings(John Caylor), but he actually had more strikeouts than McComas. Nevertheless, McComas' superb control allowed him to put the ball wherever he wanted, which meant he could limit the number of hard hit balls and rarely walked anyone. Unfortunately for McComas, after his first few seasons, the Braves tended to be a middle of the pack team at best. When they did get into the playoffs, they were unable to take advantage.


McComas' stats:

Career Pitching Stats 
 
 
Year    G  GS   W   L SV   ERA     IP   HA    R   ER  BB    K  CG SHO Teams 
2035    4   4   0   2  0 15.23   13.0   31   22   22   6    4   0   0 NAS ATL 
2036   32  32   9  14  0  7.00  178.2  258  153  139  65   90   3   1 ATL 
2037   35  35  18   9  0  4.13  239.2  283  118  110  46  142   2   1 ATL 
2038   29  29  14  10  0  3.52  225.0  242   99   88  51  155  12   3 ATL,AL 
2039   36  36  26   8  0  2.90  282.1  277   99   91  45  190  15   1 ATL,AL 
2040   29  29  17   7  0  3.39  218.0  232   98   82  39  140  11   1 ATL 
2041   36  36  21  11  0  3.16  282.0  309  123   99  42  168  15   3 ATL,AL 
2042   35  35  18  12  0  3.21  278.0  267  104   99  50  155  17   2 ATL 
2043   36  36  21  10  0  3.04  278.0  285  105   94  43  155  12   3 ATL,AL 
2044   35  35  21  10  0  2.81  291.2  297  104   91  47  198  16   5 ATL,AL 
2045   35  35  19   5  0  2.59  288.0  261   91   83  54  179  13   5 ATL,AL 
2046   27  27  16   4  0  2.22  211.0  183   61   52  27  138  11   4 ATL,AL 
2047   28  28  21   3  0  2.38  227.1  213   63   60  39  138  13   4 ATL,AL 
2048   35  35  22   9  0  3.30  269.2  281  112   99  60  176  12   3 ATL,AL 
2049   35  35  22   7  0  3.35  279.1  295  117  104  50  163  12   4 ATL,AL 
2050   36  36  18   5  0  2.73  273.1  262   87   83  43  157   8   3 ATL,AL 
2051   37  37  19   7  0  3.50  262.1  274  116  102  49  139   4   2 ATL,AL 
2052   35  35  12  11  0  5.13  223.0  290  132  127  67   93   1   1 ATL 
2053   22  20   7  12  0  6.06  120.1  169   85   81  52   54   0   0 ATL 
Total 597 595 321 156  0  3.46 4440.2 4709 1889 1706 875 2634 177  46   
 
Career Minor League Pitching Stats
 
 
Year       G GS  W L SV  ERA    IP  HA  R ER BB   K CG SHO 
2035,  AA 26 26 12 7  0 3.03 208.0 205 72 70 46 156  8   2 
2036, AAA  1  1  0 0  0 0.00   7.2   6  0  0  4   6  0   0 
2053, AAA  5  5  3 1  0 5.11  24.2  37 18 14 11  22  0   0 
 
Career Postseason Pitching Stats
 
 
Year  G GS W L SV   ERA   IP HA  R ER BB  K CG SHO 
2037  2  2 0 1  0  6.00 15.0 12 10 10 10  4  1   0 
2038  2  2 0 1  0 11.70 10.0 20 13 13  4 11  0   0 
2040  2  2 0 2  0  2.70 16.2 15  5  5  4  5  1   0 
Total 6  6 0 4  0  6.05 41.2 47 28 28 18 20  2   0 
 
 
Player History
 
 
Drafted in 1st round, 10th overall pick, by Nashville in 2035...
Traded from Nashville to Atlanta on 6/6/2035 (Going to NAS: CF B. Middlebrook. Going to ATL: P R. Mccomas, RF D. Estevez)...
Earned first career win on 4/8/2036...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 7/1/2038, going 5-1, 1.93...
Was selected to the 2038 Allstar game...
Injured on 8/10/2038 with a Fractured Cheekbone, out for 6 weeks...
Was selected to the 2039 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/7/2039, winning 2 games with a 2.12 ERA...
Won Cy Young Award in 2039, going 26-8, 2.90 ERA...
Injured on 6/23/2040 with a Bone Chips Shoulder, out for 4-5 weeks...
Injured on 8/11/2040 with a Tender Shoulder, out for one week...
Was selected to the 2041 Allstar game...
Injured on 9/21/2042 with a Ruptured Tricep Tendon, out for 3-4 weeks...
Was selected to the 2043 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 6/1/2044, going 4-1, 1.62...
Was selected to the 2044 Allstar game...
Won Cy Young Award in 2044, going 21-10, 2.81 ERA...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 6/1/2045, going 4-0, 1.88...
Was selected to the 2045 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 8/1/2045, going 3-0, 2.05...
Injured on 9/25/2045 with a Pulled Tricep Muscle, out for 5 weeks...
Was selected to the 2046 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 8/1/2046, going 4-1, 1.35...
Injured on 8/10/2046 with a Torn Ligament Elbow, out for full season...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 5/1/2047, going 5-0, 1.93...
Was selected to the 2047 Allstar game...
Injured on 7/6/2047 with a Bone Chips Shoulder, out for 5-6 weeks...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 10/1/2047, going 5-0, 1.05...
Won Cy Young Award in 2047, going 21-3, 2.38 ERA...
Was selected to the 2048 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 7/1/2049, going 5-1, 2.47...
Was selected to the 2049 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/7/2050, winning 2 games with a 0.00 ERA...
Was selected to the 2050 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 10/1/2050, going 5-0, 2.28...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 5/1/2051, going 6-0, 1.93...
Was selected to the 2051 Allstar game...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2055.
 
 
Pitching Leader Boards Appearances 
 
ERA
2037 - 4.13 - 7th
2038 - 3.52 - 6th
2039 - 2.90 - 3rd
2040 - 3.39 - 4th
2041 - 3.16 - 5th
2042 - 3.21 - 2nd
2043 - 3.04 - 2nd
2044 - 2.81 - 1st
2045 - 2.59 - 2nd
2046 - 2.22 - 1st
2047 - 2.38 - 1st
2048 - 3.30 - 6th
2049 - 3.35 - 3rd
2050 - 2.73 - 2nd
2051 - 3.50 - 3rd
 
WHIP
2039 - 1.14 - 5th
2040 - 1.24 - 9th
2042 - 1.14 - 4th
2043 - 1.18 - 7th
2044 - 1.18 - 4th
2045 - 1.09 - 6th
2046 - 1.00 - 2nd
2047 - 1.11 - 2nd
2048 - 1.26 - 10th
2049 - 1.24 - 9th
2050 - 1.12 - 3rd
2051 - 1.23 - 8th
 
Wins
2037 - 18 - 5th
2039 - 26 - 1st
2041 - 21 - 6th
2042 - 18 - 5th
2043 - 21 - 3rd
2044 - 21 - 1st
2045 - 19 - 3rd
2047 - 21 - 3rd
2048 - 22 - 3rd
2049 - 22 - 3rd
2050 - 18 - 5th
2051 - 19 - 5th
 
IP
2037 - 239.2 - 6th
2039 - 282.1 - 2nd
2041 - 282.0 - 4th
2042 - 278.0 - 4th
2043 - 278.0 - 2nd
2044 - 291.2 - 1st
2045 - 288.0 - 1st
2048 - 269.2 - 5th
2049 - 279.1 - 3rd
2050 - 273.1 - 3rd
2051 - 262.1 - 4th
 
K's
2044 - 198 - 9th
2045 - 179 - 10th
2049 - 163 - 9th
2050 - 157 - 10th
 
CG
2038 - 12 - 3rd
2039 - 15 - 2nd
2040 - 11 - 7th
2041 - 15 - 3rd
2042 - 17 - 1st
2043 - 12 - 3rd
2044 - 16 - 2nd
2045 - 13 - 4th
2046 - 11 - 4th
2047 - 13 - 4th
2048 - 12 - 6th
2049 - 12 - 5th
2050 -  8 - 8th
 
SHO
2038 - 3 - 2nd
2041 - 3 - 6th
2042 - 2 - 6th
2043 - 3 - 1st
2044 - 5 - 1st
2045 - 5 - 2nd
2046 - 4 - 2nd
2047 - 4 - 2nd
2048 - 3 - 4th
2049 - 4 - 4th
2050 - 3 - 3rd
2051 - 2 - 5th

[jamus23]

SP Robert Padgett:


As I said in the McComas bio, at the end of the 2050 season, there were two pitchers on the verge of joining Robert Jordan in the 300-win club, and both were also named Robert. McComas, of course, was one of those pitchers. The other, also a left-hander, was Robert Padgett. This is his story.

The Tucson Diamondbacks were a pretty good team in the late '20s, winning the Central Division title in 2026, '27, '28, and '30. In 2031, however, they slipped to 74-88, and wound up with the 5th overall pick in the 2032 amateur draft. The '32 draft was a reasonably impressive one; the first two picks were 3B Walter Mara and C James Paras, both Hall of Famers. The 8th pick was SP Alex Castilleja, also a Hall of Famer. With the 5th pick, meanwhile, the Diamondbacks selected Padgett, giving the 2032 draft class a total of 4 future Hall of Famers. However, Padgett's Tucson tenure was almost impossibly short. The Diamondbacks inexplicably traded Padgett and a solid veteran reliever(David Furlow) to Kansas City for a fairly ordinary catcher(Winfred Hooton) two weeks into the season. Padgett spent his first professional season at AA, where he posted acceptable, if unspectacular numbers(4-14, 4.67 ERA, and 193 strikeouts in 175 1/3 innings pitched). Despite an unimpressive 74-88 record(which was a significant improvement from 2031's franchise-worst 56-106 record), the Royals contended in a weak Central Division, finishing in 3rd place, but only 4 games out of first. Bringing up the rear, by the way, were the Diamondbacks, who stumbled to a 69-93 record.

Padgett repeated at AA in 2033, and saw his numbers improve considerably: 12-6, 3.77 ERA, and 223 strikeouts in 176 2/3 innings pitched. Unfortunately, the Royals imploded, finishing with the worst record in baseball at 57-105. The 2034 season was quite similar to the '33 one. Padgett again repeated at AA, and again his numbers improved: 14-7, 2.86 ERA, and 240 strikeouts in 176 innings. Also, the Royals again finished with a 57-105 record, although they avoided being the worst team in baseball(Portland lost 106 games). However, there was one small difference. Padgett made his big league debut in '34. He made 6 starts, all in September, and held his own. His 5.68 ERA was slightly worse than the AL league-wide ERA of 5.62, and he managed a respectable 27 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings pitched. 2035 was a somewhat difficult season for Padgett. He started off at AAA, got demoted to AA long enough to make one dominating start, and then got called back up to AAA, only to get injured about a month later. After being out for 6 weeks, he resumed pitching at AAA until September, when he was called up to the big leagues. His numbers at AAA were alright, but hardly dominant: 10-5, 4.84 ERA, and 157 strikeouts in 115 1/3 innings. In 4 big league starts, he got shelled to the tune of an 8.41 ERA. Kansas City bounced back from its disastrous seasons, and finished with an 86-76 record, good for a second place finish.

Padgett earned a spot in the Royals' rotation to start the 2036 season, but had a fairly unimpressive rookie season. He went 11-9, with a 5.38 ERA, and just 106 strikeouts against 80 walks in 180 2/3 innings pitched. He did capture his first, and only, Gold Glove Award, however. In a year when all of the talent in the American League seemed to be concentrated in the Central Division(Nashville won the Southeast with a 76-86 record), the Royals finished in last place despite a solid 85-77 record. The 2037 season wasn't really an improvement, for Padgett or the Royals. Padgett went 14-18, finishing 3rd in the league in losses, and had a 5.63 ERA. The Royals, meanwhile, finished in last place again, this time with a 79-83 record.

The 2038 season seemed to be a breakout season for Padgett. He earned his first trip to the All Star game, and posted a 20-9 won-loss record, a 3.21 ERA(which ranked 5th in the American League), and 239 strikeouts(which ranked 3rd in the AL). The Royals enjoyed a fine season, going 94-68. Unfortunately, in an expansion year, nearly every team saw a boost in its record, and thus, Kansas City finished in 3rd place, 12 games behind the division-winning Tucson Diamondbacks.

Kansas City's fortunes were better in 2039. The Royals paced the American League with a 107-55 record, and won their first division title since 2022. Strangely, however, Padgett's numbers suffered. Although he made his 2nd All Star appearance and had a solid 16-9 record, his ERA ballooned to 5.43 and his walk rate worsened. The Royals met Knoxville in the ALCS. After falling behind 2 games to 1, Kansas City evened the series in Game Four with a 7-3 victory. Padgett produced a solid effort, with 3 runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings. Knoxville won Game Five by a score of 5-2, pushing the Royals to the brink of elimination. The Royals dug deep, however, winning Game Six by a score of 5-3. Padgett took the mound in Game Seven, but got bombed. In 5 innings, he served up 7 hits, including 3 homeruns, and 7 runs. Fortunately, Kansas City's league-best offense was clicking on all cylinders. When the 79ers got to Padgett with 4 runs in the 4th inning, they were already trailing 3-0. After that initial outburst, the Royals retook the lead with 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth. Knoxville did take a 7-6 lead in the fifth, and made it 9-6 after the top of the sixth inning. Kansas City promptly tied it in the bottom of the sixth. Both teams plated runs in the seventh inning, to make it a 10-10 ballgame. It remained that way until the bottom of the 10th inning, when future Hall of Famer Fabian Rosas delivered a run-scoring triple to win both the game and the series. The Royals were headed to their first World Series since they swept Los Angeles in 2016. Of course, now they had to go up against one of the greatest teams of all time: a Pittsburgh Pirates team that had rolled through the regular season with a 125-37 record.

The first two games were close, for the most part. In Game One, the Royals grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but fell behind 4-2 in the second. It remained a 4-2 game until the seventh inning, when Kansas City cut the deficit to 1 run. In the top of the eighth, future Hall of Famer Walter Mara poked out a solo homerun to tie the game at 4-all. The Pirates immediately scored 3 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and prevailed, 7-4. In the second game, Pittsburgh took control of the game with a 4-run third inning, and a 2-run fourth inning. It remained 6-0 until the Royals rallied in the ninth inning. Unfortunately, the rally came up one run short, and Kansas City fell, 6-5. Games 3 and 4 were not close. Padgett took the mound in Game Three, and kept the Pirates off the scoreboard until the 4th inning. Pittsburgh quickly pulled away, with a run in the fourth, 2 runs in the fifth, a run in the sixth, and a run in the seventh. Kansas City managed 1 run in the eighth inning, but the Pirates removed all doubt about who would win this game with a 4-run ninth, capping off a 9-1 rout. Padgett tossed 8 innings, gave up 7 hits and 5 runs(4 earned), struck out 3 and walked 4. In Game Four, the Pirates led 5-0 after 3 innings, and cruised to a 7-1 victory, completing the 4 game sweep of the Royals. Over the entire postseason run, Padgett made 4 starts, and went 2-1 with a 5.27 ERA.

Following the 2039 season, Padgett became eligible for free agency for the first time in his career. During that offseason, he would make a decision that would have a profound impact on his career, the record books, the fledgling Miami Dolphins franchise, and the league as a whole. In their first two seasons of existence, the Miami Dolphins went a combined 92-232. In their expansion year, they posted the worst record in league history, at 31-131. Prior to the 2040 season, the Dolphins attempted to bolster their starting rotation through free agency. They signed a pair of 26 year olds- the left-handed Padgett and a right-hander named August Harshman. While Padgett's '39 season had been a little shaky, Harshman had posted an 18-10 record with a 3.91 ERA for Harrisburg. He did have a propensity for walks, however, with 120 in 234 2/3 innings pitched. The eventual outcomes of the two signings couldn't have been more different. Harshman lasted only 3 seasons with Miami, and finished with a 39-39 record and a 5.28 ERA. He averaged 128 walks per season during those three years. How did Padgett turn out? Well, his first season with Miami wasn't that great. He went 13-15, with a 4.43 ERA. The Dolphins, however, improved considerably in 2040. They produced a 91-71 record, and finished in 2nd place, 8 games behind Atlanta.

Miami slumped a bit in 2041, and finished in last place in the Southeast. Of course, they still had a respectable record of 83-79, which was better than the 80-83 managed by the Central Division-winning Grand Rapids Tigers. Padgett enjoyed a bounce back season, going 16-13 with a 3.79 ERA and 210 strikeouts.

2042 was the year everything changed. Padgett made his third trip to the All Star game, and went 22-4, with a 3.50 ERA, and 217 strikeouts during the regular season. His win total paced the American League, as did the Dolphins' 93 wins. Miami captured its first division title and prepared to face Padgett's former team, Kansas City, in the ALCS. Miami outscored the Royals 23-13 in a 4-game sweep. The 2042 World Series pitted Miami against Portland and its dominating ace, Hector Soriano(28-5, 1.50 ERA, 283 K's). Luckily for the Dolphins, Portland's NLCS opponent(Pittsburgh) had taken the Trailblazers to 7 games, and Soriano had pitched the 7th game, rendering him unavailable for Game One of the World Series.

The first game was a nail-biter. Padgett went the distance, and surrendered just 2 hits and 1 run. He struck out 9 batters and walked 4. The Dolphins pounded out 10 hits, but barely escaped with a 2-1 victory. Harshman took the mound for Game Two, and while he wasn't great(7 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts), he was good enough to get the win in a 6-4 Dolphins' victory. Miami rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the 5th inning in that game. Soriano started for Portland in Game 3, and predictably, he shut down the Dolphins. He tossed a complete game, 6-hitter, with 1 run, 1 walk, and 11 strikeouts. Portland only managed 4 hits, but the Trailblazers made them count in a 3-1 win. Portland evened the series with a 4-2 Game Four victory. Padgett made his second start of the series in Game Five, but it wasn't nearly as dominant as his first. Fortunately, the Dolphins' lineup and bullpen came through and bailed him out. Portland jumped on Padgett for 2 first inning runs, and led 4-0 after 4 innings. Miami closed to 4-3 after 6 1/2 innings, but the Trailblazers made it 5-3 after 6 innings. In the eighth inning, however, Miami got solo homeruns from third-baseman, and future Hall of Famer, Dennis Gillespie, and right-fielder Genaro Aybar. That tied the game at 5-all. In the top of the 11th inning, Miami scored the go-ahead run, and hung on for a 6-5 victory. Padgett pitched 7 1/3 innings, gave up 6 hits, 5 runs, and had 4 strikeouts against 2 walks. The bullpen combined to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings to give the Dolphins the chance to win. In Game Six, the previously maligned August Harshman went up against the great Hector Soriano. Surely, Portland would force a seventh game. Or not. Miami clung to a 1-0 lead after 4 innings, and then erupted for 4 runs in the fifth. The Dolphins grabbed another run in the sixth inning to lead 6-0. Portland got a couple of runs in the seventh, but the Dolphins prevailed 7-3 to win their first ever World Series. Soriano served up 10 hits and 7 runs in 7 1/3 innings, while Harshman pitched 8 2/3 innings, gave up 4 hits and 3 runs, and had 10 strikeouts against 6 walks. Overall, Padgett had a good postseason run: in 3 starts, he went 2-0, with a 3.04 ERA, 25 strikeouts against 7 walks, and a complete game.

Padgett's 2043 season was almost identical to his '42 season. His record was the same: 22-4. Once again, his wins total led the league. His ERA was 0.01 points better, at 3.49. He had 4 fewer strikeouts(213) in 3 1/3 more innings pitched. He even had the same number of complete games(11). One difference in the two seasons was Padgett's league-leading 1.01 WHIP. That was a fairly sizable improvement from his 1.19 total in 2042. Of course, there was another significant difference between '42 and '43: Padgett won the Cy Young Award in 2043. Miami, meanwhile, was just as good. The Dolphins won 99 games and beat out Washington by 7 games for the Southeast Division title. In the ALCS, the Dolphins would face fellow '38 expansion team, Denver. The Broncos put up a good fight, taking the series to 7 games. The seventh game was rather anticlimactic, however. The Dolphins scored 7 runs in the third inning, and led 14-1 after 6 innings. The Broncos staged a rally, but it wasn't nearly enough; the Dolphins won comfortably, 14-7, to reach their second straight World Series. Since Padgett's '42 and '43 seasons were so similar, it was perhaps somewhat fitting that Miami's World Series opponent would, once again, be the Portland Trailblazers. Incredibly, Hector Soriano's '43 season was even better than his '42 season. He went 29-3, with a 1.43 ERA, and 330 strikeouts to lead Portland to a 105-57 record(Given how terrible the contemporary Portland teams have been, it's amazing to see them so dominant in this era).

As great as Soriano was during the regular season, the Dolphins got to him in Game One of the '43 World Series. He tossed a complete game, but surrendered 5 runs in a 5-1 Miami victory. Portland, however, returned the favor in Game Two. The Trailblazers defeated Miami, also by a score of 5-1, and scored all 5 of their runs off of Padgett, who pitched 7 innings, gave up 7 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 10 batters. Portland's Emilio Gula tossed a complete game, with only 3 hits allowed, and 11 strikeouts. The Trailblazers took a 2 games to 1 series lead by holding off the Dolphins 8-7 in Game Three. Portland blew a 7-2 lead in the 7th inning, and allowed Miami to tie the game with a 5-run outburst. Future Hall of Fame catcher Axel Perez hit a 2-out grand slam to even the score. Fortunately for Portland, it was able to retake the lead in the 9th inning to secure the victory. In the fourth game of the series, the Trailblazers again blew a lead, and this time, they weren't able to recover. Hector Soriano shut the Dolphins down for 8 innings, and Portland led 3-0 heading into the ninth. Soriano tired in the final inning, got into trouble, and his bullpen couldn't bail him out. Miami scored 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth to pull out the come-from-behind victory, which tied the series at 2 games apiece. In Game Five, the Dolphins jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three innings, but spent the rest of the game trying to hang on. Portland chipped away, with runs in the 4th, 6th, and 8th innings, but came up one run short. That gave Miami the series lead. Unfortunately, Padgett once again struggled. Although he had 8 strikeouts against 1 walk in Game Six, he also gave up 9 hits and 4 runs in 7 innings of work. The Dolphins' offense faltered, and Portland forced a seventh game with a 5-1 victory. The Miami lineup scored 2 runs off of Hector Soriano in the first inning of Game Seven, but didn't score again. Portland tied the game in the third, took the lead in the fifth, and secured a 5-2 victory with a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Portland avenged its World Series defeat from the previous year. Overall, Padgett had a very strong postseason, although he could have been a lot better in the World Series. His final numbers included 4 starts, a 1-2 record, a 2.84 ERA, 33 strikeouts against 5 walks, and a complete game.

In 2044, Padgett posted the best ERA of his career to that point, a 3.07 total that ranked 2nd in the American League. He led the league in WHIP for the second straight season(0.98), and also finished 3rd in the league with 227 strikeouts. His record, however, "slipped" to 15-10. Meanwhile, the 2-time defending AL champion Dolphins finished with a 93-69 record, good for 2nd place, 3 games behind Nashville.

Padgett notched his 2nd Cy Young Award in 2045, with a dominating performance. He went 23-3, with a 2.36 ERA, and 239 strikeouts. He led the league in wins, ERA, WHIP(0.82), and shutouts(5). His strikeout total ranked 2nd. Miami rolled to a league-best 105-57 record and won the Southeast Division by a whopping 25 games over the defending champion Nashville Predators. Miami's ALCS opponent would be Tucson. It was a bloodbath, as the Dolphins blew past the Diamondbacks in a 4-game sweep, outscoring them 32-16. That earned Miami the right to face Pittsburgh, a team that, after winning 6 World Series from 2033 to 2041, had gone three straight years without reaching the World Series. After 3 straight NLCS losses to Portland, the Pirates had finally gotten past them, winning in 7 games.

Padgett could have been better in Game One, but he was good enough to get the win. In 7 innings, he allowed 10 hits and 4 runs(3 earned), with 5 strikeouts. The Dolphins, however, escaped with a 5-4 victory. Game Two was a Miami rout, as the Dolphins scored 4 runs in the first inning and 6 runs in the fourth inning, en route to a 14-4 whipping of the Pirates. Pittsburgh battled back, winning the third game, 6-1. In Game Four, the Dolphins squandered a 6-2 lead, and allowed the Pirates to pull out an 8-6 win, tying the series at 2-all. Padgett and the Dolphins recovered in Game Five, however. The Dolphins' ace tossed a complete game, with 5 hits and 3 runs(2 earned) allowed, and 7 strikeouts, while Miami pummeled Pittsburgh, 10-3. In Game Six, Miami squeezed out a 3-2 victory, scoring the winning run in the top of the ninth inning, to capture its 2nd World Series title in 4 years. Padgett's postseason numbers were superb: 3 starts, 3 wins, a 2.16 ERA, 18 strikeouts against 0 walks, and 2 complete games.

Padgett had another strong season in 2046, but it was the only year between 2042 and 2051 that he wasn't an All Star. He finished with a 17-9 record, a 2.90 ERA(which ranked 4th in the AL), 253 strikeouts(which ranked 2nd in the AL), 17 complete games(which ranked 2nd in the AL), and a 0.96 WHIP(which led the AL). Miami led all of baseball with a 108-54 record, easily winning another Southeast Division title(by 22 games over Washington). In the playoffs, the Dolphins met the Memphis Grizzlies, who hadn't made the playoffs in more than 10 years(2034), and had a record of 90-72. Despite the disparity between their respective records, the Dolphins and Grizzlies split the first four games of the ALCS. Padgett took the mound in Game Five, and had a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. Disaster struck, as he served up a pair of homeruns and 4 runs altogether. Memphis added an insurance run the following inning, and cruised to a 5-1 victory. Padgett tossed 8 innings, but gave up 6 hits and 5 runs, and had 4 strikeouts against 1 walk. The Dolphins forced a seventh game by winning Game Six by a score of 6-0. In Game Seven, Miami briefly had leads of 1-0 and 3-2, but collapsed in the fifth inning, surrendering 4 runs. Any hope of a comeback was dashed when the Grizzlies scored 6 runs in the final two innings. Memphis earned a trip to the World Series by winning Game Seven, 12-5. In 2 postseason starts, Padgett went 1-1, with a 4.76 ERA, 14 strikeouts against 2 walks, and 2 complete games.

In 2047, Padgett produced his 5th 20-win season, going 21-7, with a 3.00 ERA, 242 strikeouts, and 22 complete games. He ranked 2nd in wins, 3rd in ERA, 3rd in strikeouts, 1st in complete games, and 1st in WHIP(0.94). Miami again led all of baseball in wins, finishing with a 109-53 record. For the second year in a row, the Dolphins faced Memphis(87-75) in the ALCS, and also for the second straight year, the Dolphins had far more trouble with the Grizzlies than one would expect, given their relative records. Memphis led the series 3 games to 2 heading into Game Six, and this time, Miami was unable to force a seventh game. The Dolphins fell 3-2 in ten innings when the Grizzlies' designated hitter, Bartolo Gurrola, hit a 2-out solo homerun- his 3rd homerun of the series. Padgett had a disastrous series, with an 0-1 record in 2 starts, and an ugly 6.19 ERA. He did have 15 strikeouts against 3 walks.

The 2048 season would be one of Padgett's greatest. He won his 3rd Cy Young Award after a season in which he posted a 25-5 record, a 2.14 ERA, 230 strikeouts, 20 complete games, and a 0.80 WHIP. He led the American League in wins, ERA, WHIP, and complete games, and ranked 5th in the league in strikeouts. Miami finished 103-59, winning yet another Southeast Division title. The Dolphins met Kansas City(84-79) in the ALCS, and annihilated the Royals in a 4-game sweep, outscoring them 50-23. Miami's World Series opponent would be a Pittsburgh team that had piled up 111 regular season victories.

Robert Padgett was excellent in Game One, but Pittsburgh's Dennis Hallowell(18-8, 4.63 ERA in the regular season) out-dueled him. Padgett tossed a complete game, 4-hitter, surrendered only 1 run, and collected 6 strikeouts against 1 walk. Hallowell, however, twirled 7 scoreless innings, with 4 hits, 4 walks, and 6 strikeouts. The Pirates' bullpen did the rest in a 1-0 victory. In Game Two, the Dolphins blew leads of 2-0 and 5-3, ultimately losing the game, 6-5. The Miami offense, which had ranked 2nd in all of baseball in runs scored, finally got untracked in the third game. The Dolphins bludgeoned Pittsburgh's ace Simeon Romero(19-6, 3.42 ERA) for 8 runs in 5 innings, on the way to a 12-5 thrashing. In Game Four, the Dolphins plated one run in each of the first three innings and then erupted for 3 runs in the fourth inning. They then hung on for an 8-5 victory, tying the series at 2 games apiece. Padgett and Hallowell locked horns again in the sixth game, and this time, Padgett emerged victorious. Padgett authored a 5-hit, complete game shutout, with 8 strikeouts against 1 walk. Miami knocked Hallowell around for 10 hits and 5 runs in 6 2/3 innings, en route to a 5-0 victory. Miami quickly took control of Game Six, with a 3-1 lead after the first inning, a 5-1 lead after three innings, and a 7-1 lead after 5 innings. The Dolphins captured their 3rd World Series title by holding Pittsburgh off 7-4. Padgett had a brilliant postseason run: 3 starts, a 2-1 record, a 2.00 ERA, 25 strikeouts against 2 walks, 3 complete games, and 1 shutout.

Padgett's 4th Cy Young, and 2nd straight, came in 2049. He posted a 23-4 record, a 2.26 ERA, 262 strikeouts, 17 complete games, and a 0.85 WHIP. He led the league in wins, ERA, innings pitched(282 1/3), complete games, and WHIP, and finished 2nd in the league in strikeouts. The Dolphins cruised to a 111-51 record, tying with Pittsburgh for the best in baseball. For the second straight season, Miami met Kansas City in the ALCS. This Royals' team was a bit better than the '48 version, as it finished with a 94-68 record. Despite outscoring the Royals 31-29 in the series, the Dolphins fell in 6 games to the Royals. Padgett made 2 starts, and went 1-1, with a 3.24 ERA, 18 strikeouts against 4 walks, and 1 complete game.

In 2050, Padgett took home his 5th Cy Young Award, and 3rd in a row. He finished with a 21-5 record, a career best 2.13 ERA, 229 strikeouts, 20 complete games, and a 0.91 WHIP. He ranked first in the American League in ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, complete games, and shutouts(4), and 2nd in the league in wins. Miami won another Southeast Division title, but this didn't come as easily as some of the previous ones. The Dolphins finished 100-62, only 4 games ahead of the 96-66 Atlanta Braves. The Dolphins' ALCS opponent was Tucson(91-71). After taking a 2 games to 1 advantage over the Diamondbacks, the Dolphins out-slugged Tucson, 11-7, in Game Four. Eight of their runs came in the fifth inning. Padgett delivered a 5-game series victory for Miami by tossing a 5-hit shutout, with 6 strikeouts against 2 walks, in Game Five. Miami won the game 2-0 to earn a trip to the World Series against the Hartford Whalers(98-64). It was the Whalers' first ever trip to the World Series.

Game One was a back and forth affair that saw the Whalers race to a 5-0 lead after 1 1/2 innings, blow the lead in the bottom of the second, retake the lead with 2 runs in the third, and then promptly allow Miami to tie it up again with 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Dolphins broke a 7-7 tie with 2 runs in the seventh. The Whalers got a run in the eighth, but fell, 9-8, despite outhitting Miami, 17-11. Hartford blew leads of 3-0 and 4-3 in Game Two, ultimately losing, 6-4. In the third game, Miami squandered leads of 4-0 and 5-2 before falling, 9-6. In Game Four, the Dolphins put on both a hitting and a pitching clinic. Robert Padgett hurled a complete game 2-hitter, with 2 runs allowed, and 8 strikeouts against 2 walks. Meanwhile, the Dolphins' lineup scorched Hartford's pitching staff for 14 hits and 15 runs in a 15-2 stomping. With the Whalers facing defeat, ace Leo Alonso, Jr.(18-5, 3.34 ERA) gave everything he had in a duel with Miami's Albert Casey(17-6, 3.34 ERA). The first six innings in Game Five were scoreless for both teams. In the seventh inning, however, defensive breakdowns by Hartford spelled disaster: 3 fielding errors led to Alonso giving up 3 unearned runs. The Dolphins held off the Whalers, 4-1, to win the game, and the World Series. Padgett had the finest postseason performance of his career. In 3 starts, he went 3-0, with a 0.67 ERA, 21 strikeouts against 4 walks, 3 complete games, and 2 shutouts.

The 2051 season would prove to be Padgett's final year with Miami. He made it a memorable one, winning his 6th Cy Young Award, and 4th in a row. More importantly, on July 16th of the '51 season, Padgett became the 2nd pitcher in league history to reach 300 career victories. He tossed a complete game against Atlanta, with just 2 runs allowed, 6 strikeouts, and 1 walk. Of course, two weeks later, the Braves' Robert McComas would join him and Robert Jordan in the 300-club. Padgett tied his career high for wins, going 25-5, and posted a 2.38 ERA, 206 strikeouts, and a career-high 23 complete games. That latter stat set an American League single season record(it still stands today, although it has been tied by one other player), and allowed him to take over the all time lead in complete games. Prior to the 2051 season, McComas had ranked 1st with 172, while Padgett had 171. Padgett blew past McComas, who only managed 4 during the '51 season. He ranked 1st in the league in 2051 in ERA, complete games, and WHIP(0.87), 2nd in the league in wins, and 3rd in the league in strikeouts. The Dolphins enjoyed the best record in baseball, at 109-53, and found themselves pitted against Tucson(85-77) in the ALCS for the second straight season. Miami had little difficulty with the over-matched Diamondbacks, outscoring them 40-14 in a 4-game sweep. For the third time since 2045, Miami would be matched up against Pittsburgh(104-58) in the World Series.

Padgett got roughed up in Game One of the World Series, with 11 hits and 8 runs(6 earned) allowed in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Four of the hits he surrendered were homeruns. Three of the homeruns were hit by players who had hit 5 or fewer during the regular season. He also squandered an early 2-0 lead, as the Dolphins fell, 8-3. Miami struck quickly in Game Two, and led 5-1 after three innings. The Dolphins hung on after that for a 5-3 victory. The third game was a tale of big innings, for both sides. Pittsburgh plated 3 runs in the first inning, but Miami got 3 of its own in the second inning. In the top of the fourth, the Pirates exploded for 6 runs. An inning later, they got 2 more to take a commanding 11-3 lead. It remained that way until the bottom of the ninth inning, when the Dolphins mounted an unsuccessful rally. Miami brought home 5 runs in the 9th, to complete the 11-8 defeat. The Dolphins also committed 6 errors in this contest, which led to 2 unearned runs. Pittsburgh moved to the brink of winning the World Series by winning Game Four by a score of 5-4. The Pirates rallied from a 3-1 deficit with 4 runs in the top of the eighth inning. Robert Padgett stopped Miami's bleeding. In Game Five, the Dolphins' ace tossed a complete game, with 9 hits, 2 runs allowed, 7 strikeouts, and 2 walks, while the Dolphins' lineup battered Pittsburgh's Simeon Romero(20-6, 3.21 ERA) for 10 hits and 7 runs in 4 innings. Miami steamrolled its way to a 10-2 victory, and forced a sixth game. Game Six was almost a carbon copy of Game Five. The Dolphins tagged Pittsburgh's Rene Vickrey(17-9, 3.80 ERA) for 6 hits and 7 runs(3 earned) in 3 innings. When Pittsburgh started to make a game of it, cutting Miami's lead to 7-5, the Dolphins tacked on 4 more runs in the final 2 innings, to secure an 11-5 win, and force a Game Seven. The deciding game came down to pitching. Miami's Granville Jarvis(10-7, 4.40 ERA) and Pittsburgh's Asa Charboneau(23-5, 3.01 ERA) put up matching goose-eggs for the first four innings. The Dolphins broke the ice with a run in the fifth inning. They got a second run in the sixth inning, but the Pirates tied the game with 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh. Miami, however, retook the lead in the eighth inning, and added an insurance run in the ninth. Closer Dale Sandiford(37 SV, 2.95 ERA) pitched the final 1 1/3 innings without allowing any baserunners, to protect the lead. Miami prevailed, 4-2, and completed the comeback from being down 3 games to 1 to win its 5th World Series, and 2nd in a row. Padgett had a fine postseason, with a 2-1 record in 3 starts, and a 3.09 ERA, 21 strikeouts against 5 walks, 2 complete games, and 1 shutout.

As successful as Miami had been in this time period, the wins and championships were not coming without a price. In 2050, the Dolphins had become the 9th team in league history to have a payroll above $100,000,000, and that high payroll continued in 2051. Although having an excessive payroll appeared to be worth it, the Dolphins elected to shed payroll following the 2051 season. In addition to allowing several highly paid players to leave as free agents, the Dolphins also chose to trade the 38 year old Padgett and his $10 million salary to, of all teams, Pittsburgh. In exchange, they received two starting pitchers. One, 27 year old James Tarbox, was talented, but had little to show for it in the big leagues. The other, 22 year old Sam Barger, was considered one of the best prospects in baseball, but had had trouble adjusting to AA. Not to give too much away, but we will talk about Sam Barger again down the road.

So, Padgett, having spent his entire career to this point in the American League, was now about to pitch for a National League team. And not just any NL team, but the storied Pittsburgh Pirates, winners of 18 World Series at this point. The same Pirates that Padgett had helped to defeat in the '45, '48, and '51 World Series. The same Pittsburgh team that, between 2042 and 2051, had 1 World Series victory and 5 World Series defeats. Pittsburgh was desperate to start winning championships again, and, despite both its history with Padgett and Padgett's advanced age, the Pirates expected the veteran to help deliver a World Series. Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh/Padgett union didn't turn out the way either hoped. Padgett got hurt in his second start and spent the next month on the disabled list. Both starts, by the way, were disastrous- in 6 1/3 innings, he had surrendered 14 hits and 13 runs(12 earned) for a 17.05 ERA. After returning from the injury, Padgett continued to struggle for the next three months. It wasn't until August that he started to pitch well. Despite a strong finish to the season, his final numbers were among the worst of his career: 10-14, 4.75 ERA, and 174 strikeouts. Although Padgett's season was a disappointment, the Pirates still cruised to a division title, and finished tied with Miami for the best record in baseball at 106-56. The Pirates NLCS opponent would be Sacramento(95-67). Unfortunately, the Kings shocked Pittsburgh in a 4-game sweep, outscoring the Pirates 25-10. Padgett's lone start was horrible. In 7 innings, he coughed up 7 hits and 7 runs, with 5 strikeouts against 2 walks. Miami, by the way, also lost in the ALCS, in 7 games to Tucson. Pittsburgh chose not to try and resign Padgett after the 2052 season, and for the first time since 2040, Padgett hit the free agent market.

The veteran starter decided to sign with Rochester, which had finished in second place in the Northeast in 2052, with an 88-74 record. Could the 39 year old pitcher help close the gap between the Rhinos and his former team, the Pirates? The answer was yes. Not only did Padgett enjoy a bounce back season(15-10, 3.30 ERA, and 165 strikeouts), but he helped Rochester improve its record to 91-71. The Rhinos still finished in 2nd place, but instead of finishing 18 games out of first, they finished just 5 games behind Pittsburgh. It was Rochester's best record since 2040, and the closest it had come to winning the division since finishing 5 games out of first in 2016. The most important development to come out of this season, however, was the fact that Padgett had closed to within 2 wins of Hall of Famer Robert Jordan's career total of 335. A record once thought unbreakable was in serious danger of being broken.

Following the 2053 season, Padgett was once again a free agent. At his age, though, there wasn't a significant amount of interest. He eventually signed with Los Angeles, which had lost 100 games the previous season, late in the free agency period. His bid to become the all time leader in wins did not get off to a good start. In 6 April starts, Padgett went 0-5 with a 7.26 ERA. He managed only 1 win in 5 May starts. Despite pitching poorly in June(6.25 ERA), Padgett did record 2 victories- the first tied Robert Jordan, while the second gave Padgett the lead. He pitched competently in July, and picked up a couple more wins, but his numbers tailed off again in August, and he managed only 1 win in that month. The Dodgers moved Padgett to the bullpen during the final month of the season, and he failed to record any more victories. Padgett finished the season with an unimpressive 6-16 record and a 5.20 ERA. He had his fewest strikeouts since 2036 and his most walks since 2041. He also failed to pitch a shutout for the first time since 2039. Los Angeles tied for last place in the West Division with a 76-86 record. Having put his name atop the record books, Robert Padgett retired following the 2054 season.

At the time of his retirement, Padgett ranked 1st all time in wins, 18th all time in ERA, 5th all time in strikeouts, 1st in complete games, and 5th in shutouts. At the end of the 2086 season, Padgett still ranked 1st in wins and complete games. He had dropped to 6th in strikeouts and tied for 10th in shutouts. He was still in the top 25 in ERA as recently as 2070. His 12 All Star appearances are tied for the 2nd most among pitchers, while his 6 Cy Young Awards also rank 2nd all time.

It is difficult to say where exactly Padgett ranks among the all time great pitchers. He was a good strikeout pitcher, but not as good as Robert Jordan. He had a lengthy peak, but it wasn't as high as Hector Soriano's. And of course, there is likely a large contingent that would argue for the recently retired Segundo Narbaiza, who had a peak nearly as good as Soriano's, but for a longer period of time, and joined the three Roberts in the 300-club in 2082. Padgett also benefited by spending a good portion of his career with one of the most dominant teams in the league, which may have inflated his win total. On the other hand, he was a big reason why Miami was so dominant. Ultimately, there is no question that he was one of the greatest of all time, but to say that he was THE greatest off all time... well, that would be the kind of claim that might start wars.


Padgett's stats:

Career Pitching Stats 
 
 
Year    G  GS   W   L SV  ERA     IP   HA    R   ER   BB    K  CG SHO Teams 
2034    6   6   2   3  0 5.68   31.2   39   24   20   12   27   0   0 KC 
2035    4   4   2   2  0 8.41   20.1   33   20   19    8   13   0   0 KC 
2036   31  31  11   9  0 5.38  180.2  193  123  108   80  106   1   0 KC 
2037   34  34  14  18  0 5.63  203.0  239  138  127   71  137   0   0 KC 
2038   36  36  20   9  0 3.21  277.2  255  110   99   76  239   9   1 KC,AL 
2039   34  34  16   9  0 5.43  218.2  230  142  132   78  173   6   0 KC,AL 
2040   33  33  13  15  0 4.43  235.2  241  125  116   67  166  10   3 MIA 
2041   33  33  16  13  0 3.79  251.2  227  113  106   89  210   6   1 MIA 
2042   33  33  22   4  0 3.50  236.1  223  101   92   59  217  11   3 MIA,AL 
2043   32  32  22   4  0 3.49  239.2  187   97   93   54  213  11   1 MIA,AL 
2044   32  32  15  10  0 3.07  240.2  190   95   82   46  227  10   2 MIA,AL 
2045   32  32  23   3  0 2.36  266.2  187   81   70   31  239  11   5 MIA,AL 
2046   32  32  17   9  0 2.90  266.2  214  102   86   41  253  17   3 MIA 
2047   32  32  21   7  0 3.00  273.1  224   92   91   32  242  22   2 MIA,AL 
2048   32  32  25   5  0 2.14  273.2  186   68   65   34  230  20   2 MIA,AL 
2049   34  34  23   4  0 2.26  282.1  215   85   71   26  262  17   4 MIA,AL 
2050   33  33  21   5  0 2.13  278.1  207   72   66   46  229  20   4 MIA,AL 
2051   33  33  25   5  0 2.38  279.1  205   91   74   37  206  23   2 MIA,AL 
2052   28  28  10  14  0 4.75  195.1  178  106  103   35  174   8   1 MIA PIT 
2053   33  33  15  10  0 3.30  239.2  181   96   88   56  165  10   2 ROC,NL 
2054   34  27   6  16  0 5.20  190.1  188  123  110   74  111   5   0 LA 
Total 631 624 339 174  0 3.49 4681.2 4042 2004 1818 1052 3839 217  36   
 
Career Minor League Pitching Stats
 
 
Year       G GS  W  L SV  ERA    IP  HA  R ER BB   K CG SHO 
2032,  AA 26 26  4 14  0 4.67 175.1 196 92 91 53 193  1   0 
2033,  AA 25 25 12  6  0 3.77 176.2 167 76 74 46 223  2   0 
2034,  AA 24 24 14  7  0 2.86 176.0 168 60 56 35 240  2   1 
2035,  AA  1  1  1  0  0 0.00   7.1   2  0  0  4  10  0   0 
2035, AAA 18 18 10  5  0 4.84 115.1 130 69 62 42 157  1   1 
 
Career Postseason Pitching Stats
 
 
Year   G GS  W L SV  ERA    IP  HA  R ER BB   K CG SHO 
2039   4  4  2 1  0 5.27  27.1  26 17 16 13  18  0   0 
2042   3  3  2 0  0 3.04  23.2  13  8  8  7  25  1   0 
2043   4  4  1 2  0 2.84  31.2  25 13 10  5  33  1   0 
2045   3  3  3 0  0 2.16  25.0  21  8  6  0  18  2   0 
2046   2  2  1 1  0 4.76  17.0  14  9  9  2  14  2   0 
2047   2  2  0 1  0 6.19  16.0  16 11 11  3  15  0   0 
2048   3  3  2 1  0 2.00  27.0  17  6  6  2  25  3   1 
2049   2  2  1 1  0 3.24  16.2  21  6  6  4  18  1   0 
2050   3  3  3 0  0 0.67  27.0  12  2  2  4  21  3   2 
2051   3  3  2 1  0 3.09  23.1  27 10  8  5  21  2   1 
2052   1  1  0 1  0 9.00   7.0   7  7  7  2   5  0   0 
Total 30 30 17 9  0 3.31 241.2 199 97 89 47 213 15   4 
 
Career Batting Stats 
 
 
Year    G  AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS Teams 
2034    6   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 KC 
2035    4   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 KC 
2036   31   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 KC 
2037   34   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 KC 
2038   36   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 KC,AL 
2039   34   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 KC,AL 
2040   33   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA 
2041   33   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA 
2042   33   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2043   32   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2044   32   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2045   32   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2046   32   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA 
2047   32   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2048   32   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2049   34   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2050   33   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2051   33   0  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000 MIA,AL 
2052   28  72 17  3  2  0   4  6  4 31  0  0 .236 .276 .333 .610 MIA PIT 
2053   33  76 15  0  0  1   7  7  9 30  0  1 .197 .282 .237 .519 ROC,NL 
2054   34  65  8  0  0  0   2  2  1 30  0  0 .123 .136 .123 .259 LA 
Total 631 213 40  3  2  1  13 15 14 91  0  1 .188 .238 .235 .473   
 
 
Player History
 
 
Drafted in 1st round, 5th overall pick, by Tucson in 2032...
Traded from Tucson to Kansas City on 4/12/2032 (Going to TUC: C W. Hooten. Going to KC: P D. Furlow, P R. Padgett)...
Injured on 8/23/2033 with a Hyper Extended Elbow, out for 1-2 weeks...
Injured on 7/30/2034 with a Sore Back, out for one week...
Earned first career win on 9/4/2034...
Injured on 5/15/2035 with a Strained Tricep Muscle, out for 6 weeks...
Won Gold Glove Award at Pitcher in 2036...
Was selected to the 2038 Allstar game...
Was selected to the 2039 Allstar game...
Injured on 7/27/2039 with a Sore Back, out for one week...
Signed as a free agent by Miami on 2/3/2040 to a 4-year deal worth $6,500,000 per year...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 5/1/2042, going 6-0, 1.98...
Was selected to the 2042 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Miami in 2042...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 5/1/2043, going 4-0, 1.70...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 6/1/2043, going 5-0, 1.84...
Was selected to the 2043 Allstar game...
Won Cy Young Award in 2043, going 22-4, 3.49 ERA...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 7/1/2044, going 3-1, 0.91...
Was selected to the 2044 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 7/1/2045, going 5-0, 0.61...
Was selected to the 2045 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Miami in 2045...
Won Cy Young Award in 2045, going 23-3, 2.36 ERA...
Struck out 15 batters against Atlanta on 9/14/2046...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 10/1/2046, going 4-0, 1.26...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 6/1/2047, going 5-0, 2.20...
Was selected to the 2047 Allstar game...
Was selected to the 2048 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Miami in 2048...
Won Cy Young Award in 2048, going 25-5, 2.14 ERA...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 6/1/2049, going 5-0, 2.09...
Was selected to the 2049 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 10/1/2049, going 4-0, 1.20...
Won Cy Young Award in 2049, going 23-4, 2.26 ERA...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 5/1/2050, going 5-1, 1.87...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 7/1/2050, going 3-0, 1.45...
Was selected to the 2050 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Miami in 2050...
Won Cy Young Award in 2050, going 21-5, 2.13 ERA...
Was selected to the 2051 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 8/1/2051, going 5-0, 1.64...
Won World Series with Miami in 2051...
Won Cy Young Award in 2051, going 25-5, 2.38 ERA...
Traded from Miami to Pittsburgh on 1/31/2052 (Going to MIA: P J. Tarbox, P S. Barger. Going to PIT: P R. Padgett)...
Injured on 4/6/2052 with a Strained Back Muscle, out for 4 weeks...
Had first career hit on 5/4/2052, off Robt Stith (HFD)...
Signed as a free agent by Rochester on 2/5/2053 to a 1-year deal worth $7,369,600 per year...
Was selected to the 2053 Allstar game...
Hit first career homerun on 7/31/2053, off James Lo (BUF)...
Injured on 8/20/2053 with a Stiff Shoulder, out for 1-2 weeks...
Signed as a free agent by Los Angeles on 2/25/2054 to a 2-year deal worth $5,479,000 per year...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2055.
 
 
Pitching Leader Boards Appearances 
 
ERA
2038 - 3.21 - 5th
2042 - 3.50 - 7th
2043 - 3.49 - 4th
2044 - 3.07 - 2nd
2045 - 2.36 - 1st
2046 - 2.90 - 4th
2047 - 3.00 - 3rd
2048 - 2.14 - 1st
2049 - 2.26 - 1st
2050 - 2.13 - 1st
2051 - 2.38 - 1st
2053 - 3.30 - 9th
 
WHIP
2038 - 1.19 - 9th
2042 - 1.19 - 7th
2043 - 1.01 - 1st
2044 - 0.98 - 1st
2045 - 0.82 - 1st
2046 - 0.96 - 1st
2047 - 0.94 - 1st
2048 - 0.80 - 1st
2049 - 0.85 - 1st
2050 - 0.91 - 1st
2051 - 0.87 - 1st
2052 - 1.09 - 4th
2053 - 0.99 - 2nd
 
Wins
2038 - 20 - 6th
2042 - 22 - 1st
2043 - 22 - 1st
2045 - 23 - 1st
2046 - 17 - 10th
2047 - 21 - 2nd
2048 - 25 - 1st
2049 - 23 - 1st
2050 - 21 - 2nd
2051 - 25 - 2nd
2053 - 15 - 10th
 
Losses
2037 - 18 - 3rd
2054 - 16 - 4th
 
IP
2038 - 277.2 - 2nd
2043 - 239.2 - 6th
2044 - 240.2 - 6th
2045 - 266.2 - 6th
2046 - 266.2 - 3rd
2047 - 273.1 - 1st
2048 - 273.2 - 4th
2049 - 282.1 - 1st
2050 - 278.1 - 2nd
2051 - 279.1 - 2nd
2053 - 239.2 - 7th
 
K's
2038 - 239 - 3rd
2042 - 217 - 9th
2043 - 213 - 5th
2044 - 227 - 3rd
2045 - 239 - 2nd
2046 - 253 - 2nd
2047 - 242 - 3rd
2048 - 230 - 5th
2049 - 262 - 2nd
2050 - 229 - 1st
2051 - 206 - 3rd
 
CG
2038 -  9 - 5th
2040 - 10 - 8th
2042 - 11 - 6th
2043 - 11 - 4th
2044 - 10 - 6th
2045 - 11 - 5th
2046 - 17 - 2nd
2047 - 22 - 1st
2048 - 20 - 1st
2049 - 17 - 1st
2050 - 20 - 1st
2051 - 23 - 1st
2052 -  8 - 5th
2053 - 10 - 3rd
 
SHO
2040 - 3 - 4th
2042 - 3 - 3rd
2043 - 1 - 8th
2044 - 2 - 5th
2045 - 5 - 1st
2046 - 3 - 3rd
2047 - 2 - 5th
2048 - 2 - 5th
2049 - 4 - 2nd
2050 - 4 - 1st
2051 - 2 - 1st
2053 - 2 - 4th

Next up will be RF Billy Eidson, a #1 overall pick whose HOF credentials may have been inflated by spending five of his peak seasons in Denver's hitter-friendly confines.

[jamus23]

RF Billy Eidson:

It is difficult to determine just how much playing in Denver boosts a hitter's stats. It is obvious that the Broncos' home ballpark inflates offensive numbers, but it can be hard to separate the player from the stadium. Would that player have put up those numbers anywhere, or just Denver? And if he wouldn't have, well, how much worse would his numbers have been? Would his .900 OPS for Denver have been .850, or .800, or even .700, for someone else? Right-fielder Billy Eidson presents an interesting and difficult case, as he spent 5 years in the middle of his career with Denver. On the one hand, his Denver numbers were clearly better than his non-Denver numbers, but on the other hand, those years were also in his prime- it's likely that Eidson would have put up big numbers in that time period no matter where he was playing. The question, though, is whether Eidson's Hall of Fame credentials were inflated by those five years with the Broncos.

For the most part, the Knoxville 79ers were a very good team from the late 20's to the mid 30's. They won division titles in 2027, 2028, 2030, 2032, and 2033. They won the World Series in '27, and lost in '28 and '30. In 2035, however, Knoxville finished just 78-84. A year later, the 79ers slipped to 68-94 and finished in last place for the first time since 2025. In 2037, they finished with the worst record in the league, at 59-103. It was the first 100-loss season in franchise history. That disastrous season earned Knoxville the first overall pick in the 2038 amateur draft. With it, the 79ers selected 23 year old right-fielder, Billy Eidson. The young outfielder began his first professional season at the big league level. However, he collected only 11 at bats before being sent down to AAA in the middle of April. Eidson performed well in the minor leagues(.830 OPS) and, after about a month, Knoxville recalled him to the big leagues. He filled in as the backup to starting right-fielder Sidney Lee(.917 OPS, 42 HR), but did not play particularly well. He managed just a .629 OPS in 104 at bats. Knoxville bounced back from its terrible '37 campaign to finish a respectable 81-81. Of course, that was only good enough for 4th place in the Southeast, as most of the teams in the league enjoyed a boost due to it being an expansion year. The 79ers had the second worst record out of all of the non-expansion American League teams that year- only Grand Rapids performed worse(64-98).

2039 would prove to be a different story for Knoxville; unfortunately, Eidson didn't get to enjoy all of it. For the first part of the season, Eidson remained in a backup role. Although he performed solidly in that role, the 79ers traded him to Harrisburg for veteran center-fielder, and future Hall of Famer, Tod Tsukasa, shortly before the trade deadline. While Knoxville went on to finish 99-63 and win its first Southeast Division title since 2033, Eidson's new team, the Capitals, finished 70-92 and a very distant fourth to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who won 125 games that year. On the bright side, Eidson's playing time increased after joining Harrisburg, as he became the starting right-fielder. His final numbers in the '39 season were fairly solid: a .773 OPS with 8 homeruns in 289 at bats. His numbers were even better the following season, and earned him a trip to the All Star game. In 2040, he posted an .821 OPS with 25 homers, 107 RBI, and 102 runs scored. Harrisburg, however, remained a bottom-feeder. The Capitals went 66-96 and tied for third place with Hartford. Only the 3rd year Buffalo Bills were worse in the Northeast(53-109). Eidson continued to improve in 2041. He hit .300 for the first time(.307), produced a .905 OPS, 29 homeruns, and made his second trip to the All Star game. Harrisburg was a better team that year, as well, but that really isn't saying much. The Capitals finished 78-84, which was actually good enough for second place in the division. That doesn't mean that they were ever a playoff contender, however, as they finished 38 games out of first place. Eidson had a monster season in '42. He went to his third straight All Star game and posted a 1.001 OPS(good for 9th in the league) with 46 homeruns(2nd), 136 RBI(4th), a .615 slugging percentage(5th), and 11 triples(2nd). His breakout year had little effect on the fortunes of Harrisburg, though. The Capitals went 66-96 and finished in last place. The 2043 season proved to be Eidson's final season with Harrisburg. He had another strong year, but it wasn't as good as his '42 season. His streak of All Star appearances ended, and he finished the season with a .926 OPS, 28 homeruns, and 124 RBI. He did set career highs in walks(89) and stolen bases(28). Harrisburg finished 64-98 and tied for last place with Rochester.

Eidson hit the free agent market following the '43 season, and elected to sign with the Denver Broncos, who, after losing 464 games in their first 4 seasons, had managed two straight winning campaigns in '42 and '43(83-79 and 88-75, respectively). The '43 mark had been just enough to win the Central Division, but the Broncos had fallen to Miami in 7 games in the ALCS. Eidson and Denver was a match made in heaven. He led the American League in OPS(1.166) and slugging percentage(.708), ranked 4th in batting average(.371), 3rd in on base percentage(.457), 3rd in homeruns(43), 4th in RBI(137), and 3rd in runs scored(139). Not surprisingly, Eidson returned to the All Star game. The Broncos captured a second straight division title, and finished with a 97-65 record.

The Broncos' ALCS opponent in 2044 was Nashville(96-66). The Predators and Broncos split the first 4 games of the series. In Game Five, Nashville bludgeoned Denver by a score of 8-2. A 4-run 2nd inning gave the Predators control early, and they never looked back. The Broncos returned the favor in the sixth game, and forced a Game Seven, by pounding the Predators 9-0. Eidson didn't contribute much in that game, however, as he went 0 for 4, with a walk, and 3 strikeouts. In Game Seven, Nashville drew first blood in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the first, Eidson tied the game with a solo homerun. After that, it was all Nashville. The Predators battered the Broncos' pitching staff into submission, with 3 runs in the third inning, 2 in the fourth, 3 in the fifth, and 2 in the eighth. Ultimately, Nashville slaughtered Denver 11-1 in Game Seven, and cruised past Portland to win the World Series in 5 games. Eidson's performance during the series was fairly solid, as he posted an .829 OPS, with a double, a homerun, 7 RBI, 3 runs scored, and 6 walks. Unfortunately, that was as close as Eidson would ever get to the World Series.

Eidson's 2045 season was not quite as impressive as the previous one, but it was pretty darn close. For the second straight season, he produced an OPS over 1.000(1.007) and went to the All Star game. He collected 200 hits in a season for the first time(202), and finished in the top 10 in the American League in all of the following categories: hits, homeruns, runs scored, batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. Unfortunately, the Broncos suffered one of the biggest collapses from one season to another in league history. After winning the division with 97 wins in '44, Denver imploded to a 62-100, last place finish. Not much changed in 2046. Eidson's numbers slipped again, but they were still very good. He posted a .939 OPS, and hit .305 with 37 homeruns(good for 10th in the league), 137 RBI(8th), and 133 runs scored(3rd). He did make his 3rd straight trip to the All Star game. Denver, meanwhile, remained at the bottom of the Central Division with a 67-95 record.

In 2047, Eidson had another monster season. He hit .331(10th in the AL), with a .410 on base percentage(9th), a .611 slugging percentage(9th), a 1.021 OPS(7th), 197 hits(6th), 11 triples(4th), 41 homeruns(6th), 137 RBI(3rd), and 126 runs scored(3rd). Not surprisingly, he also made his 4th consecutive trip to the All Star game. Along with Eidson's resurgence, the Denver Broncos bounced back from two horrible seasons to finish with an 86-76 record that had them just 1 game behind first place Memphis.

2048 was almost a carbon copy of 2047, for both Eidson and the Broncos. Eidson hit .340, with a 1.032 OPS, a career-high 204 hits, a career-high 12 triples, 40 homeruns, a career-high 148 RBI, and 124 runs scored. The triples total led the American League. He also made his 5th straight All Star appearance, and the 8th of his career. The Broncos finished the season tied with Kansas City for first place with identical 83-79 records. Unfortunately, Denver lost to the Royals in a one game playoff, and thus, missed the postseason. That proved to be Eidson's final season with the Broncos. Following the 2048 season, Eidson signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Bills.

After three terrible seasons to start their existence, the Buffalo Bills quickly became respectable. In 2041, they avoided 100 losses for the first time, finishing with a 76-86 record. From 2042 to 2046, the Bills finished in second place in the Northeast every year, and had a winning record in all but one season. However, Buffalo slumped a bit after that stretch. The Bills were 70-92 in 2047, and 75-87 in 2048. A star slugger like Eidson was just the thing to get the Bills back on track, or so they hoped. Eidson's numbers in 2049 were solid, but they were also his worst since 2040. His OPS dipped to .879, he managed only 27 homeruns, and his batting average plummeted to .283. Eidson's streak of consecutive All Star appearances came to an end. Buffalo, meanwhile, finished with the worst record in the league, at 68-94.

Eidson bounced back in 2050. He posted a .986 OPS, hit .336, blasted 35 homers, and led the National League with 141 RBI. He made his 9th, and final, trip to the All Star game. Additionally, Eidson won his first and only Silver Slugger Award. The Bills also rebounded, as they managed an 82-80 record, which was good for third place in the division, 16 games behind first place Hartford, and 15 games behind second place Pittsburgh.

Buffalo remained respectable in '51, finishing with an 83-79 record and another third place finish. Eidson, on the other hand, saw his numbers slump again. He managed an .866 OPS, with 26 homeruns, and 106 RBI. For the first time since 2039, he failed to score at least 100 runs. He continued to decline in 2052, as his OPS dropped to .835, and he managed only 21 homeruns. He also failed to drive in 100 runs for the first time since 2041. The Bills slumped to 71-91 and a 4th place finish.

Strangely, while Eidson had his worst season as a regular in 2053, the Bills were a legitimate contender for much of the season. Eidson's OPS imploded to an ugly .679 total, and he hit just .241 with 16 homeruns and 77 RBI. The Bills, however, finished with an 84-78 record. Although they were in third place in the Northeast, they were only 12 games out of first place.

Some players retire when they've still got a productive season or two left in them. Some players retire when they see the writing on the wall after a disappointing season. And some players hang around just a little too long. Eidson was one of the latter group. He began the 2053 season as a backup, and played very sparingly. He had 6 at bats in the first month of the season, 3 in May, none in June, and none in July. Towards the end of July, the Bills sent Eidson to AAA, where he spent the remainder of the season. In his 9 big league at bats, he managed just 1 hit. At AAA, the 39 year old Eidson produced a meager .654 OPS in 187 at bats. Meanwhile, the Bills suffered through a horrendous season. Buffalo was easily the worst team in the league in 2054, with a 59-103 record. After that, Eidson decided to call it quits and retire.

At the time of his retirement, the only category that Eidson ranked in the top 25 of was triples. He ranked 13th all time. As of the start of the 2087 season, Eidson was tied for 22nd all time in triples.


Eidson's stats:

Career Batting Stats 
 
 
Year     G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI    R   BB    K  SB  CS  AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS Teams 
2038    67  104   26   3   0   1   13   15   11   27   7   5 .250 .322 .308  .629 KNO 
2039   116  289   84  12   1   8   46   51   27   43  19   7 .291 .351 .422  .773 KNO HBG 
2040   157  613  179  21   8  25  107  102   51  152  18   6 .292 .346 .475  .821 HBG,NL 
2041   158  583  179  27   8  29   93  105   63  130  12   4 .307 .375 .530  .905 HBG,NL 
2042   158  561  175  10  11  46  136  104   68  129  27  15 .312 .386 .615 1.001 HBG,NL 
2043   156  572  174  28   8  28  124  106   89  150  28   6 .304 .398 .528  .926 HBG 
2044   128  504  187  27   7  43  137  139   80  127  14  10 .371 .457 .708 1.166 DEN,AL 
2045   158  600  202  29   7  37  114  118   79  153  21  11 .337 .414 .593 1.007 DEN,AL 
2046   157  600  183  28   7  37  137  133   71  164  12  15 .305 .379 .560  .939 DEN,AL 
2047   155  596  197  22  11  41  137  126   80  155   9  11 .331 .410 .611 1.021 DEN,AL 
2048   158  600  204  19  12  40  148  124   83  141  19  12 .340 .420 .612 1.032 DEN,AL 
2049   155  559  158  26   7  27  103  104   88  113  18   8 .283 .380 .499  .879 BUF 
2050   158  572  192  23   8  35  141  107   60   82  16  19 .336 .399 .587  .986 BUF,NL 
2051   157  575  170  27   5  26  106   94   68   96   6   9 .296 .370 .496  .866 BUF 
2052   156  581  173  18   6  21   73   91   74   84  12  13 .298 .377 .458  .835 BUF 
2053   150  535  129  16   3  16   77   70   51   98   6   5 .241 .307 .372  .679 BUF 
2054    11    9    1   0   0   0    0    0    0    3   0   0 .111 .111 .111  .222 BUF 
Total 2355 8453 2613 336 109 460 1692 1589 1043 1847 244 156 .309 .385 .538  .923   
 
Career Minor League Batting Stats
 
 
Year       G  AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS 
2038, AAA 26 114 34  7  0  5  14 25  7 20  8  5 .298 .339 .491 .830 
2054, AAA 44 187 51 12  0  1  20 19  9 40  3  2 .273 .302 .353 .654 
 
Career Postseason Batting Stats
 
 
Year  G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS 
2044  7 26 7  1  0  1   7 3  6 9  0  0 .269 .406 .423 .829 
Total 7 26 7  1  0  1   7 3  6 9  0  0 .269 .406 .423 .829 
 
 
Player History
 
 
Drafted in 1st round, 1st overall pick, by Knoxville in 2038...
Had first career hit on 4/9/2038, off Carlos Quintero (NAS)...
Hit first career homerun on 6/15/2038, off Tim Mollica (KC)...
Had 5 hits with 1 RBI against Nashville on 7/21/2039...
Traded from Knoxville to Harrisburg on 7/22/2039 (Going to KNO: CF T. Tsukasa. Going to HBG: RF B. Eidson, P C. Kwan)...
Was selected to the 2040 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Portland on 7/14/2040...
Was selected to the 2041 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Hartford on 4/12/2042...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2042, hitting .478 with 3 HR, 13 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/19/2042, hitting .526 with 4 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/16/2042, hitting .529 with 4 HR, 6 RBI...
Was selected to the 2042 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/19/2043, hitting .400 with 4 HR, 13 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Rochester on 7/31/2043...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/4/2043, hitting .409 with 4 HR, 12 RBI...
Signed as a free agent by Denver on 2/10/2044 to a 5-year deal worth $12,008,500 per year...
Was selected to the 2044 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/14/2044, hitting .545 with 5 HR, 14 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/21/2044, hitting .407 with 6 HR, 10 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2044, hitting .384 with 16 HR, 36 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 6/2/2045...
Was selected to the 2045 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Tucson on 7/16/2045...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/11/2045, hitting .480 with 3 HR, 13 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2045, hitting .383 with 9 HR, 29 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Nashville on 5/29/2046...
Was selected to the 2046 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/11/2046, hitting .591 with 3 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2046, hitting .444 with 7 HR, 11 RBI...
Hit 3 homeruns against Kansas City, driving in 3 runs on 4/10/2047...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/19/2047, hitting .542 with 2 HR, 6 RBI...
Was selected to the 2047 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 5/21/2048...
Won Batter of the Month award on 7/1/2048, hitting .420 with 6 HR, 27 RBI...
Was selected to the 2048 Allstar game...
Signed as a free agent by Buffalo on 2/2/2049 to a 3-year deal worth $11,844,000 per year...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2049, hitting .545 with 2 HR, 8 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/7/2050, hitting .520 with 3 HR, 10 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 5/1/2050, hitting .381 with 9 HR, 27 RBI...
Had 2000th career hit on 5/12/2050, off Alex Castilleja (ROC)...
Was selected to the 2050 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Sacramento on 7/14/2050...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2050, hitting .336 with 35 HR, 141 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 5 RBI against Sacramento on 9/8/2051...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2055.
 
 
Batting Leader Boards Appearances 
 
AVG
2044 - .371 - 4th
2045 - .337 - 5th
2047 - .331 - 10th
2048 - .340 - 6th
2050 - .336 - 5th
 
OBP
2044 - .457 - 3rd
2045 - .414 - 9th
2047 - .410 - 9th
2048 - .420 - 5th
 
SLG
2042 - .615 - 5th
2044 - .708 - 1st
2045 - .593 - 8th
2047 - .611 - 9th
2048 - .612 - 5th
2050 - .587 - 5th
 
OPS
2042 - 1.001 - 9th
2044 - 1.166 - 1st
2045 - 1.007 - 6th
2047 - 1.021 - 7th
2048 - 1.032 - 3rd
2050 -  .986 - 6th
 
Hits
2045 - 202 - 4th
2047 - 197 - 6th
2048 - 204 - 2nd
2050 - 192 - 5th
 
Triples
2040 -  8 - 4th
2041 -  8 - 6th
2042 - 11 - 2nd
2043 -  8 - 7th
2047 - 11 - 4th
2048 - 12 - 1st
2050 -  8 - 7th
 
Homeruns
2042 - 46 - 2nd
2044 - 43 - 3rd
2045 - 37 - 10th
2046 - 37 - 10th
2047 - 41 - 6th
2048 - 40 - 6th
2050 - 35 - 6th
 
RBI
2040 - 107 - 9th
2042 - 136 - 4th
2043 - 124 - 9th
2044 - 137 - 4th
2046 - 137 - 8th
2047 - 137 - 3rd
2048 - 148 - 4th
2050 - 141 - 1st
 
Runs
2044 - 139 - 3rd
2045 - 118 - 6th
2046 - 133 - 3rd
2047 - 126 - 3rd
2048 - 124 - 5th
 
BB
2048 - 83 - 10th
 
SB
2043 - 28 - 10th

Next on the Hall of Fame list is 2B Jeffrey Arendt. He's probably more of a "Hall of Very Good" type of guy, but he had a lengthy, productive career nonetheless.

[jamus23]

2B Jeffrey Arendt:

Although the Hall of Fame has many members, some players have stronger arguments than others. Some players are sure-thing, no-brainers. Others did enough to have convincing cases made for them. A couple seem to have no business whatsoever being in the Hall. Jeffrey Arendt isn't quite in the latter category, as he was certainly a very good player. However, his HOF argument is rather weak. He made only 2 All Star games in his career and, aside from winning a batting title, won no major awards in his career. He was never on a World Series winner, and only played for one playoff team. Arendt was the kind of player every team would like to have, but probably not deserving of Hall of Fame enshrinement.

The early '30s were an odd time for Memphis. In 2030, the Grizzlies went 74-88 and finished in 2nd place in the Central Division. In '31, they improved to 79-83, which was good enough to win the division. In '32, they went 78-84, won the division again, swept a 100-win Knoxville team in the ALCS, and defeated a 114-win Pittsburgh team in 5 games in the World Series. In 2033, Memphis went 86-76- the Grizzlies best record since 2027- and finished in 2nd place in the division. That gave Memphis the 10th pick in the 2034 amateur draft. With it, the Grizzlies selected 18-year old second-baseman Jeffrey Arendt. The young infielder spent his first professional season at AA, where he put up solid, if unspectacular, numbers. He managed a .771 OPS, driven by a strong .372 on base percentage, and poked out 13 homeruns. Memphis captured a Central Division title with a 97-65 record. At the time, that was a franchise record for wins in a season. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies were upset by an 88-win Nashville team in the ALCS, losing in 6 games.

Arendt began his second season at AA, and tore the cover off the ball. Through the middle of July, Arendt hit .339 with a .919 OPS and 34 extra base hits at AA. With a little over week left in the month of July, Arendt was promoted to AAA. He played one game at AAA, and collected 2 hits in 4 at bats. After the game, Memphis elected to call him up to the big leagues. After getting called up, Arendt played sporadically as the backup second-baseman. He didn't have much success, with just a .560 OPS in 42 at bats. In his final 16 at bats, he had only 1 hit and 8 strikeouts. Memphis' record slipped to 78-84, which put the Grizzlies in last place in the Central Division. Arendt remained the backup in 2036, and managed an unimpressive .694 OPS in 110 at bats. The Grizzlies won 88 games, but finished in 2nd place, well back of the 101-win Tucson Diamondbacks.

In 2037, Arendt started out at AAA. He spent about two weeks down there and struggled, with just a .663 OPS in 54 at bats. In mid-April, the Grizzlies promoted him to the big leagues. He started regularly, but split time between second base and designated hitter. Arendt got off to a sluggish start, but really got into a groove in the middle of the season- he had an .899 OPS in June and a .900 OPS in July. Arendt cooled off down the stretch, but all in all, it was a very solid first full season. He finished with a .797 OPS, hit 15 homeruns, and drove in 76 runs. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies slumped to an 80-82, third place finish.

Arendt had his first big season in 2038. He finished 4th in the batting race with a .357 average, and posted a .941 OPS, with 207 hits, 17 homeruns, 92 RBI, a career-best 116 runs scored, and a career-best 87 walks. Memphis had its first ever 100-win season, finishing with a 105-57 record, but that was not enough to make the playoffs. The Grizzlies finished 1 game behind first place Tucson.

Arendt's first All Star campaign came in the 2039 season. He hit .336, with an .895 OPS, 16 homers, 98 RBI, 104 runs scored, and 81 walks. The Grizzlies had a solid season, winning 89 games, but they finished a distant third to Kansas City, which won 107 games. The following season would be Arendt's final one with Memphis. In 2040, he hit .331, with an .866 OPS, 15 homeruns, 80 RBI, and 90 runs scored. Memphis finished 90-72, but once again, that wasn't enough to win the Central Division. Tucson beat out the Grizzlies by 10 games.

After the '40 season, Arendt left Memphis and signed with division rival, Grand Rapids. The previous year, the Tigers had finished 1 game behind the Grizzlies. Other than that, however, Grand Rapids' recent history had been rather uneven. The Tigers had been highly successful from the period 2012 to 2025, with 10 division titles, 4 World Series appearances, and 3 World Series championships. That run ended with a 100-loss, last place finish in 2026, and since then, the Tigers had largely been mediocre. They did win division titles in 2029 and 2037, and reached the World Series both times, winning in '27. Aside from those two seasons, though, it was a lot of third and fourth place finishes. Still, after a decent season in 2040, the "theft" of a quality player like Arendt from a division rival looked to be a pretty significant coup. Arendt had an o.k. season, but it wasn't as a good as his previous ones. He managed an .804 OPS, with a .325 batting average, 200 hits, 9 homeruns, 89 RBI, and 101 runs scored. Grand Rapids wound up tied with Tucson atop the Central Division with unimpressive 79-83 records. The Tigers defeated the Diamondbacks in a 1-game playoff to earn a postseason spot. Unfortunately, that meant that they got to face the 103-win Knoxville 79ers in the ALCS. It went about as well as could be expected. Knoxville outscored Grand Rapids 29-11 and won 4 games to 1. Arendt collected 8 hits in 21 at bats for an excellent .381 average; however, all of the hits were singles and he didn't draw any walks, so his OPS was a pedestrian .762. Furthermore, he drove in only 1 run, and didn't score any.

Arendt's 2042 season was somewhat similar to his '41 season. His overall OPS was .807- only 3 points higher- however, he achieved it in a different fashion. His batting average dipped to .290, but he increased his slugging percentage from .417 to .440, and reached 20 homeruns for the first time in his career(21). He also drove in 97 runs and scored 96. Grand Rapids, meanwhile, plummeted to 71-91 and finished in last place. Arendt's offensive numbers experienced a resurgence in 2043. He hit .317, with an .854 OPS, 14 homeruns, 81 RBI, and 102 runs scored. The same cannot be said for the Tigers, who went 78-84 and finished in last place again.

In 2044, Arendt enjoyed one of his best seasons. He finished 3rd in the batting race with a .371 average, posted a .951 OPS, collected a career-best 226 hits, ripped 37 doubles and 17 homeruns, drove in 99 runs, and scored 109. He made his second, and final, All Star team. Grand Rapids, however, finished 72-90, and brought up the rear of the Central Division for the third consecutive season. In '45, Arendt's numbers dipped back to his career norms. He hit .310, with an .844 OPS, 20 homeruns, 80 RBI, and 79 runs scored. Grand Rapids didn't finish in last place(that "honor" went to Denver, which lost 100 games), but the fourth place Tigers finished with a record similar to that of previous seasons: 75-87.

Although Arendt failed to make the All Star team in 2046, that year was easily the best of his career. He led the American League with a .374 batting average, and set career highs in slugging percentage(.550), OPS(.989), doubles(41), homeruns(22), and RBI(123). He tied his career high for hits(226), and scored the second most runs of his career(111). Grand Rapids managed a respectable 80-82 record, and finished in second place in the Central Division, 10 games behind Memphis.

The Tigers rise to respectability didn't last. In 2047, Grand Rapids collapsed to 64-98, and finished in last place. Arendt got hurt near the end of April, and missed nearly all of the month of May. He still had a strong season, although it wasn't as good as his '46 season. He finished with a .325 average, an .891 OPS, 18 homeruns, 82 RBI, and 74 runs scored. Following the 2047 season, Arendt left Grand Rapids and hit the free agent market.

In the offseason prior to the 2048 season, Arendt headed to the National League, as he signed with Portland. The early to mid-40's represented the finest era in Portland's history. The Trailblazers won 5 consecutive division titles from 2041 to 2045, with an average of 103 wins per season. Portland also appeared in three straight World Series from '42 to '44, winning in 2043. After that stretch, however, Portland began to fade. The Trailblazers slipped to 86-76 and a 2nd place finish in 2046, and then to 75-87 and a 4th place finish in 2047. The hope was that Arendt might help start a reversal of fortunes. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The 32-year old Arendt had difficulty adjusting to the National League and the extremely hitter-unfriendly confines of Portland's home ballpark. He slogged through his worst season in about a decade, with a rather pedestrian .278 batting average, a mediocre .751 OPS, just 9 homeruns, 68 RBI, and 61 runs scored. He also had two separate stints on the disabled list. Meanwhile, Portland mustered just a 72-90 record and a fourth place finish. The 2049 season was even worse, for both Arendt and Portland. Arendt got off to a very good start, but in the second week of April, he suffered a torn calf muscle that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. He finished with a .971 OPS in 39 at bats. Portland continued its decline and finished in last place for the first time since 2036, with a 69-93 record. Somehow, I doubt that Portland was particularly upset to see Arendt's contract expire at the end of the '49 season.

Arendt signed with Tucson for the 2050 season. After a strong stretch in the late 30's, the Diamondbacks had been rather mediocre throughout the '40s. They did win 82 games in '49, good for a 2nd place finish. Returning to the American League seemed to rejuvenate the veteran second-baseman, at least initially. Arendt hit .361 with a .998 OPS in April, but quickly saw his numbers fall off in May(.689 OPS) and June(.788). He caught fire again in July, and hit .402, with a 1.142 OPS, and 8 homeruns- good enough to win the Batter of the Month Award. However, the Diamondbacks did an odd thing near the end of July. In the midst of a heated playoff race between Tucson and Grand Rapids, the Diamondbacks traded Jeffrey Arendt to the Tigers for top pitching prospect Steve Sowder and middling catcher prospect. Despite the somewhat head-scratching trade, Tucson went on to win the division by 7 games over Grand Rapids. The Diamondbacks went 91-71, while the Tigers finished at 84-78. Arendt continued to hit well after the trade, and had his last great season. He finished with a .338 average, a .929 OPS, 201 hits, a career-best 28 homeruns, 116 RBI, and 100 runs scored.

In 2051, Arendt's numbers tailed off. His batting average dropped to .272- which was his lowest in a full season- and he managed just a .763 OPS. He poked out 14 homeruns, drove in 71 runs, and scored 62 runs. Grand Rapids finished the season with a 72-90 record and tied for second place in the division with Denver, 13 games behind first place Tucson. Arendt bounced back a little bit in 2052, as he hit .302, with a .799 OPS, 13 homers, 93 RBI, and 68 runs scored. The Tigers finished in second place with an 81-81 record, 9 games behind first place Tucson.

Arendt's last full season came in 2053. He put up solid numbers: a .301 batting average, an .806 OPS, 14 homeruns, 84 RBI, and 80 runs scored. Grand Rapids finished in second place once again, this time with an 80-82 record. The Tigers finished 6 games behind first place Kansas City. Arendt became a free agent following the '53 season, but ultimately resigned with Grand Rapids. He played very sparingly until the middle of August, when the Tigers released him. He mustered a pathetic .376 OPS in 50 at bats. The Tigers, meanhwile, slumped to 73-89 and a third place finish. Arendt retired after the 2054 season.

At the time of his retirement, Arendt did not rank in the top in the top 25 in any major categories. While Arendt was a very capable player, with a few terrific seasons, it is clear that he is among the weaker members of the Hall of Fame. One does wonder, however, if he would have reached 3,000 career hits had he not missed the majority of the '49 season. Given that he came up 122 hits short, it seems likely that he would have gotten there.


Arendt's stats:

Career Batting Stats 
 
 
Year     G   AB    H  2B 3B  HR  RBI    R   BB    K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS Teams 
2035    24   42    9   2  0   0    3    8    5   16  0  0 .214 .298 .262 .560 MEM 
2036    54  110   29   8  0   1    8   13   11   27  0  0 .264 .331 .364 .694 MEM 
2037   131  437  123  12  2  15   76   65   66   88  1  0 .281 .376 .421 .797 MEM 
2038   155  580  207  28  2  17   92  116   87   83  0  0 .357 .441 .500 .941 MEM 
2039   154  587  197  32  2  16   98  104   81   79  0  0 .336 .416 .479 .895 MEM,AL 
2040   156  595  197  31  4  15   80   90   61   90  1  0 .331 .393 .472 .866 MEM 
2041   158  616  200  30  0   9   89  101   62   88  0  3 .325 .386 .417 .804 GR 
2042   151  559  162  21  0  21   97   96   68   70  1  0 .290 .367 .440 .807 GR 
2043   140  511  162  26  1  14   81  102   71   64  0  0 .317 .400 .454 .854 GR 
2044   154  609  226  37  1  17   99  109   66   74  2  0 .371 .433 .519 .951 GR,AL 
2045   143  552  171  24  0  20   80   79   65   65  0  0 .310 .382 .462 .844 GR 
2046   155  605  226  41  0  22  123  111   70   67  0  0 .374 .439 .550 .989 GR 
2047   134  486  158  27  0  18   82   74   60   75  0  1 .325 .399 .492 .891 GR 
2048   134  467  130  22  2   9   68   61   59   66  2  0 .278 .359 .392 .751 POR 
2049    12   39   13   4  0   1    3    6    9    5  0  1 .333 .458 .513 .971 POR 
2050   156  594  201  25  2  28  116  100   61   71  0  1 .338 .400 .529 .929 TUC GR 
2051   139  485  132  24  0  14   71   62   62   71  1  0 .272 .355 .408 .763 GR 
2052   152  550  166  28  0  13   93   68   65   75  0  1 .302 .376 .424 .799 GR 
2053   152  531  160  26  0  14   84   80   64   93  2  1 .301 .376 .429 .806 GR 
2054    30   50    9   0  0   0    1    4    1   11  0  0 .180 .196 .180 .376 GR 
Total 2484 9005 2878 448 16 264 1444 1449 1094 1278 10  8 .320 .393 .461 .854   
 
Career Minor League Batting Stats
 
 
Year        G  AB   H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB   K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS 
2034,  AA 111 417 113 14  0 13  50 54 68 100  2  3 .271 .372 .398  .771 
2035,  AA  95 357 121 23  0 11  36 37 52  67  1  2 .339 .423 .496  .919 
2035, AAA   1   4   2  0  0  0   0  0  0   2  1  0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 
2037, AAA  15  54  13  3  0  1  10  3  6  11  0  0 .241 .311 .352  .663 
 
Career Postseason Batting Stats
 
 
Year  G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS 
2041  5 21 8  0  0  0   1 0  0 1  0  0 .381 .381 .381 .762 
Total 5 21 8  0  0  0   1 0  0 1  0  0 .381 .381 .381 .762 
 
 
Player History
 
 
Drafted in 1st round, 10th overall pick, by Memphis in 2034...
Injured on 6/16/2034 with a Torn Tricep Muscle, out for 5 weeks...
Injured on 5/24/2035 with a Stiff Shoulder, out for one week...
Had first career hit on 7/28/2035, off William Shim Jr. (KC)...
Hit first career homerun on 4/26/2036, off Jack Yohe (TUC)...
Injured on 4/6/2037 with a Inflamed Elbow Ligament, out for one week...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2038, hitting .480 with 3 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2039, hitting .548 with 2 HR, 11 RBI...
Drove in 7 runs against Denver on 6/2/2039...
Was selected to the 2039 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Nashville on 7/24/2039...
Signed as a free agent by Grand Rapids on 2/25/2041 to a 4-year deal worth $7,178,500 per year...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Denver on 5/15/2041...
Had 5 hits with 0 RBI against Washington on 8/4/2042...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 9/3/2042...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/22/2042, hitting .517 with 2 HR, 10 RBI...
Injured on 5/15/2043 with a Fractured Ankle, out for 3 weeks...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/25/2043, hitting .625 with 1 HR, 7 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Washington on 9/20/2043...
Was selected to the 2044 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Atlanta on 9/7/2044...
Signed as a free agent by Grand Rapids on 2/18/2045 to a 3-year deal worth $7,975,400 per year...
Injured on 5/19/2045 with a Sore Back, out for one week...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/16/2045, hitting .524 with 3 HR, 5 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Denver on 4/11/2046...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2046, hitting .630 with 3 HR, 13 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Washington on 9/9/2046...
Injured on 4/27/2047 with a Ruptured Bicep Tendon, out for 4 weeks...
Had 2000th career hit on 7/23/2047, off Andrew Eggert (MEM)...
Signed as a free agent by Portland on 2/10/2048 to a 2-year deal worth $6,411,400 per year...
Injured on 6/28/2048 with a Pulled Thigh Muscle, out for one week...
Injured on 8/20/2048 with a Pulled Elbow Ligament, out for 1-2 weeks...
Injured on 4/13/2049 with a Torn Calf Muscle, out for full season...
Signed as a free agent by Tucson on 2/12/2050 to a 4-year deal worth $3,327,500 per year...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/14/2050, hitting .464 with 4 HR, 10 RBI...
Traded from Tucson to Grand Rapids on 7/30/2050 (Going to GR: 2B J. Arendt. Going to TUC: P S. Sowder, C K. Williams)...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2050, hitting .402 with 8 HR, 24 RBI...
Injured on 6/4/2051 with a Pulled Hamstring Muscle, out for 3 weeks...
Drove in 7 runs against Washington on 9/27/2052...
Signed as a free agent by Grand Rapids on 2/12/2054 to a 2-year deal worth $932,500 per year...
Released by Grand Rapids on 8/18/2054, refused assignment to minors...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2055.
 
 
Batting Leader Boards Appearances 
 
AVG
2038 - .357 - 4th
2039 - .336 - 5th
2040 - .331 - 10th
2044 - .371 - 3rd
2046 - .374 - 1st
2050 - .338 - 5th
 
OBP
2038 - .441 - 5th
2044 - .433 - 9th
2046 - .439 - 3rd
2050 - .400 - 7th
 
OPS
2046 - .989 - 10th
 
Hits
2038 - 207 - 5th
2039 - 197 - 7th
2040 - 197 - 10th
2041 - 200 - 5th
2044 - 226 - 1st
2046 - 226 - 2nd
2050 - 201 - 4th

The next player on the Hall of Fame list will be C Axel Perez, a player considered by many to be the backbone of the dominant Miami teams in the 2040's and 2050's.