Complete Universe Facegen Pack

[LansdowneSt]

Garrett Stephenson was an 18th round pick of the Orioles before being traded to the Phillies where he had a solid 1997 season, logging 117 IP, going 8-6 with a 3.15 ERA. He was traded two years later to the Cardinals and after going 16-9 in more than 200 innings of work and a 4.46 ERA (ERA+ was 104 - it was the steroid era, remember) in 2000, he was out the next year due to Tommy John surgery. After two more years upon his return, a 39-39 record, he retired.

Today, per his current employer, Garrett Stephenson is a listing agent in Boise, Idaho. As an agent, Garrett helps his clients sell their homes quickly, and for a great price. In the process, he saves them a lot of money. Garrett got into real estate in 2004, at the suggestion of his baseball colleagues. For most of his real estate career, he was a self-taught builder and developer. He got himself some books, got a loan from the bank, and figured the business out as he worked. Garrett became a licensed agent in 2017.

Redid the facegen. Did this one off luckymann's new list as I wanted a modern one to start off easy...

[LansdowneSt]

The 1980 season was a banner year for Steve Carlton. Lefty, as he was universally known around the league, led all National League pitchers with 24 wins. He was the major-league leader in strikeouts with 286. He struck out 10 or more batters in 11 games. Carlton led all pitchers in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) with 10.2. Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Stone led all pitchers in wins with 25, but Carlton won the 1980 National League Cy Young Award by an overwhelming margin and finished fifth in the NL MVP voting behind his teammate Mike Schmidt. After his historic 1972 campaign (27 victories for a Phillies team that won only 62 games and finished in the NL East basement), Carlton’s next three seasons had been marred by mediocrity. But with a renewed focus, he established himself as one of the game’s top pitchers during the period 1976-1980. During those seasons he won 20 games or more three times, and won the NL Cy Young Award twice. Carlton was the best left-handed pitcher in the game.

Baseball is an apt metaphor for life. It’s incredibly complex, with many facets that make sense. And there are also plenty of maddening aspects that are excruciatingly difficult to wrap your head around. The one tendency that is most striking about the game is how unfair it can be at times. Just imagine that you were a participant in a simple trade to benefit both parties, one solid player for another. Yet, as the years go by, you wind up being another player on the bench, an answer to a trivia question in some seedy bar, and — the final touch — a footnote in history.

This must have been what Rick Wise [who went from the Phils to the Cardinals in the '72 trade] felt if he watched television on the evening of October 21, 1980, as Steve Carlton was charged with the awesome responsibility of pitching the Philadelphia Phillies to their first-ever World Series title. The journey to the doorstep of immortality was an improbable one. The Phillies established themselves as the top club in the National League East from 1976 to 1978, only to lose in the NLCS all three years. In Game Five of the 1980 National League Championship Series, Philadelphia fought back from a 5-2 deficit to clinch the pennant in front of a raucous Houston Astrodome crowd. In Game Five of the 1980 World Series, the Phillies scored two runs off Kansas City Royals relief ace Dan Quisenberry in the top of the ninth inning to go up 4-3 and win the game, thus sending the Phillies back home up three games to two in the Series, with Carlton ready to go.

Where would the 1972 Phillies have been without Carlton? That question may have been answered on the night of October 21, 1980, when Carlton pitched seven solid innings and Phillies fans finally saw their team win its first World Series. Without Lefty the Philadelphia Phillies of his era would be somewhere between here and parts unknown. - SABR

I had made this facegen last year and I recall the troublesome orange spots under the eyes. I learned to live with it. Hopefully, it comes through okay on other people's monitors.

[luckymann]

Lefty looks good for me thanks bud. First pic is in the AtHoL; second in the PBL.





Here's a quick question for you - even though I have personalities off in the PBL, a large number of players have their angry face on. Any idea if there's a way of changing this?

Ta, G.

[LansdowneSt]

When baseball fans think about the national pastime and Rhode Island during the Deadball Era, Napoleon Lajoie stands out as the premier sports personality from “Little Rhody”. However, Joseph Connolly, despite just a four-year major-league career (1913-1916), may have had a greater impact on the social, cultural, and baseball fabric of Rhode Island than any other player, including Lajoie. As for Connolly’s athletic abilities, Paul Shannon of the Boston Sunday Post wrote that the Rhode Islander “is fairly fast, the possessor of a strong wing and he covers a good extent of territory. Furthermore, he is a dependable hitter”.1 Connolly was the offensive star of the Boston Braves during their most successful period of the Deadball Era (.288 lifetime batting average).

The 1914 Miracle Braves owed their success to players like Connolly. The sportswriters often referred to him as “slugger” or “star.” Boston’s only regular to hit .300 (.306), he was also the team leader in doubles, home runs, extra-base hits, total bases, and slugging average (third in the National League at .494). Manager Stallings demonstrated his high regard for Connolly by having him hit third in the lineup. As a member of the world champions, Connolly was the guest of honor at a number of banquets scheduled throughout Rhode Island. Because of his personality and baseball connections, he had been designated a “native son” by several communities. After retiring, he became very active in those same communities. On September 1, 1943, Connolly suddenly became ill and died at home, the cause of death being listed as coronary disease. A local headline read, “Joey Connolly Called Out By Great Umpire.” Throngs, including church and state dignitaries attended the funeral. - SABR

Redid the facegen. Boy, did this one need it.

@luckymann, if you are in Commish, you can open the editor and see the quantitative cause and zero it out. I zero mine out before the screenshot to avoid smiles and anger when posting. If not in Commish, you can't toggle it but you can see the cause(s) of their angry face in the profile screen of the player by hitting, in the lower left, "Popularity & Morale". Morale is different than the personalities.

[luckymann]

Yeah, Morale is off as well. I just did a full update and it seems to have sorted it for now thanks bud.

And thanks for Joe - it was one really bothering me because he's going pretty well and thus appears regularly on the daily scores.

G

[LansdowneSt]

An aggressive right-hander who threw mostly fastballs, Roger Erickson pitched six years in the majors (1978-1983) for the Twins and Yankees. One of the top rookies of 1978, he bounced back from elbow surgery to enjoy another fine season, but threw his last big-league pitch at age 26 because of shoulder woes.

In 1978, his rookie year, he went 14-13 with a 3.97 ERA (95 ERA+) but he struggled the next year. “When you signaled for a breaking pitch, Roger would shake it off and throw the fastball,” recalled catcher Butch Wynegar. “A lot of those fastballs became line drives.” At the conclusion of a disappointing, 3-10, 5.63 ERA season, he underwent surgery on his right elbow to relieve pressure on the ulna nerve. By 1980, he'd rebounded. By the end of the season, his 3.25 ERA ranked eighth in the circuit. It was under 3.00 until his last two starts against the pennant-winning Royals. The more he pitched, the better he got,” said Wynegar. “The zip is back on Roger’s fastball.” Erickson’s record was a deceptively poor 7-13, however, as the Twins scored a grand total of 18 runs in his defeats. “When he pitches, we just don’t hit,” remarked teammate, Pascual. “To me, that was my best year,” recalled Erickson. “How I adjusted to things and how I was in every ballgame.” In 1982, he was traded to the Yankees but within two years, he'd be out of the game with injuries haven taken their toll.

Over six big-league seasons, Erickson’s record was 35-53 with a 4.13 ERA in just under 800 innings. Looking back, he admits he probably should have relied more on his excellent sinker or featured more change-ups. “I grew up throwing hard and challenging everybody and they said you can’t do that in the big leagues, but I did it,” he said. “If I wasn’t traded to the Yankees, I might’ve stayed in Minnesota for 20 years.”

I had previously redone this facegen while playing my 1979- forward sim. I had used the Cardinal pic when he was a coach in 1990 but the smoothing makes him look younger and it's also one of the few pic where he isn't smiling.

[luckymann]

Hey bud can you do me a Lefty Williams (1913-20) when you get time please. He's on my Bucs squad and I finally got sick of looking at him as is.

Good news is there's only a handful for the Class of '17, I'll save them up for next season and we'll keep going on AtHoL in the meantime to keep things fresh for you.

G

[LansdowneSt]

Doug Rau was a starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers for most of his nine-year career. He won 81 and lost 60, for a career .574 winning percentage. Rau was immediately successful when he came up in 1972, with a 2.20 ERA in 32 2/3 innings and giving up only 18 hits. By 1974, the Dodgers made Rau a starter and they won the pennant. His record was 13-11. He pitched in the 1974 NLCS, but gave up 3 runs in only 2/3rds of an inning. He did not appear in the 1974 World Series. In 1975, he went 15-9 with a 3.11 ERA, and in 1976, he did as well with a record of 16-12 and an ERA of 2.57. His ERA was second in the National League.

Both 1977 and 1978, pennant-winning years for the Dodgers, were good ones for Rau. In 1977 he went 14-8, with a winning percentage of .636, while in 1978 he went 15-9 with a winning percentage of .625. In the 1977 World Series he did not pitch effectively, but in the 1978 World Series he gave up no runs in 2 innings pitched. Rau's career was close to an end, though, because of injuries. - bRef Bullpen wiki

His 1977 World Series performance was immortalized on Tommy Lasorda's in-game mic. Click the Twitter embedded in the story about it. NSFW. Poor Rau was ineffective at getting outs that day and in his effort to get Tommy to keep him in the game. https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/tom...o-01evktt792dd

Redid the facegen. Yes, I still owe the board an older Lasorda...

[LansdowneSt]

BEFORE THE GRAND JURY OF COOK COUNTY, September 28, 1920.
1.00 o’clock P. M., In the Matter of the Investigation of Alleged Baseball Scandal.

Excerpt from the testimony of Joe Jackson

Q Did anybody pay you any money to help throw that series in favor of Cincinnati?
A They did.
Q How much did they pay?
A They promised me $20,000, and paid me five.
Q Who paid you the $5,000?
A Lefty Williams brought it in my room and threw it down.
Q Who is Lefty Williams?
A The pitcher on the White Sox Club.
------------------------------------------------------ [end] --------------------------------
In 1915, America’s leading syndicated sportswriter, Hugh Fullerton, published a forgettable baseball novel in which a star left-handed pitcher named Williams is bribed and threatened by gamblers to lose the pennant for his team.

Fullerton, who dedicated the novel to his friend and mentor, Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, had been writing about the menace of gambling in professional baseball for more than a decade. Little did he know how prescient his story would turn out to be.

Just a few years later, Fullerton had a front-row seat in the press box as one of the Chicago White Sox’ star pitchers, Claude “Lefty” Williams, became embroiled in the most devastating game-fixing scandal baseball had ever seen, the throwing of the 1919 World Series. Williams and seven of his teammates were expelled from Organized Baseball for their roles in losing the tainted World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Williams set a World Series record with three losses all by himself, including a disastrous one-inning appearance in the Series’ final game that left no doubt as to his involvement in the Black Sox Scandal.

Considered one of the most promising left-handers in baseball, Williams recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons with the White Sox in 1919 and ’20, and he was being groomed to replace Eddie Cicotte as the staff ace. But he threw away his career for a $5,000 reward from gamblers, ending the White Sox’ potential championship dynasty before it ever really began. More than any other player involved in the 1919 World Series fix, Williams struggled to make peace with his fateful decision to accept the bribe; only with the unconditional support of his strong-willed wife, Lyria, did he turn around his life after he was kicked out of baseball prematurely. - SABR

Made the facegen. This one drove me nuts. I tried to make the lower part a bit thinner and the cheekbones wider but the facegen is limited by the in-game height and weight. Many pics had his cheeks full of chaw but I founda few that I could work with. Give it a try. There's no fg in the pack currently for him.

[luckymann]

Great work again bud. He's on my Bucs squad so I'll make sure he is sufficiently compensated to keep Maharg, Rothstein et al at bay.

[LansdowneSt]

Gabe Gross was a a college football quarterback at Auburn University before electing to focus on baseball. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1st round of the 2001 amateur draft. In 2004 and 2005 Gross saw action with the Toronto Blue Jays, and with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006 and 2007. He was let go by the Brewers early in the 2008 season, but he landed on his feet as he was picked up by the Tampa Bay Rays, got the bulk of the team's playing time in right field and reached the World Series. In 2009, he shared the Rays' right field spot with Gabe Kapler and Ben Zobrist but again received the majority of starts at the position. In both years, he was part of a platoon in which he was the starter against right-handed pitchers. Gross returned to Auburn University in 2012 as an assistant coach. - bRef Bullpen wiki

Redid the facegen by request. Nice to visit some faces from different eras.

[luckymann]

I'll put another AtHoL list together tonight to keep us on this tip for a while.

[LansdowneSt]

Frank Fernandez had the distinction of playing on some of the worst New York Yankees teams of the modern era. The catcher-outfielder could hit for power but not for average and he struck out often. He also played for the Oakland A's, Washington Senators, and Chicago Cubs. His lifetime batting average was .199. He is one of a very small number of players who collected more walks than hits over their career; Fernandez leads this group in both walks (164) and hits (145). He also hit more Home Runs (39) than any other player with a lifetime batting average under .200.

To be fair to Frank, his OPS+ was 114, showing he was a good overall hitter. While his batting average was low, he played at a time when batting averages in general were at historic lows. For instance, the 1969 Yankees hit only .214 as a team. Frank made up for very low batting averages with high on-base percentages. His career OBP was .350, quite valuable in a time when there were few hits. And his power was considerable.

I didn't see an fg in the CU facepack for him. Made this one.

[luckymann]

Got a slight touch of the Ray Liotta about him, old Frank.

[luckymann]

Here you go - a nice mix of eras in this bunch.

Jack Compton 1911
Roy Zimmerman 1945
Wilmer Flores 2013-21
Rudy Kemmler 1879-89
LeGrant Scott 1939
Rod Gaspar 1969-74
Hi Bithorn 1942-47
Tom Hausman 1975-82
Ned Williamson 1878-90
Miguel Rojas 2014-20

[LansdowneSt]

THE BLOOMFIELD NEWS, Bloomfield, Greene County, Indiana, June 27, 1912, Volume XXXV, Number 32, Page 1:

Frank Edington, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. G. Edington, of Lyons, who is well remembered here as a base ball pitcher, is now becoming famous as a left fielder and sure batter with the Pittsburg National team. He made a home run in a game at St. Louis Monday.

57 years later...

THE BLOOMFIELD NEWS, Bloomfield, Greene County, Indiana, Thursday, December 4, 1969, Volume LXXV, Number 7, Page 1:

Funeral services were conducted at 2 p.m. Monday for Jacob Frank Edington. He was a former resident of Greene County, a veteran of World War I, and was a retired optometrist.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stump Edington played in 15 games for the Pirates in 1912. The official stats show no home run hit on Monday in St. Louis (or any other day in the majors), but I won't tell The Bloomfield News if you won't...

Made the facegen from the picture shown (age 32) from 1925. He was 20 as a rookie. No fg came up in the game for me but after some digging - just as I was about to post - I found it saved under a different file name. So the "before" picture from the CU Facepack had the wrong suffix (-stu) instead of (-jac). I still prefer mine even with the texture overlay on the face to smooth out some of the odd coloring from the old photo but wither way, at least folks now know where to find the old one if they wish.

[luckymann]

You'd make a great PI bud...

[LansdowneSt]

Just glad folks still enjoy, or at least don't mind, the write-ups. It makes it more interesting for me to do. I like it better when they are people and not just another random face to place markers on and sculpt/color.

Getting late here on the east coast. Catch ya later, luckymann. I still got at least a half dozen of yours to do so I'll merge these new ones with those.

[luckymann]

Oh yes, please keep the background info coming. I love it.

No rush on those bud, make sure you allocate time to your own stuff. Now that I've really cut down on the Bucs ones we should get the chance to go through a good variety to keep it fresh for all and, most importantly, you.

I can't wait to get the guys from your other thread into the FL over oncoming seasons. Loving getting familiar with plenty of players who were unknown to me across these different saves of mine.

G

[LansdowneSt]

Ned Williamson had a thirteen-year career (1878-1890) in the big leagues, mostly at third base and shortstop. He spent most of his career with the Chicago White Stockings.

He was the all-time single season home run leader with 27 until 1919 when Babe Ruth hit 29. The main cause of Williamson's record-setting season was his playing in Lake Front Park, where right field was only 196 feet away. Williamson hit 25 of his 27 HR in his home park. His career high other than 1884 was 9 HR. Prior to 1884, balls hit over the right field fence were ground rule doubles. In 1883, under the old rules, Williamson hit a then-record 49 doubles.

At the completion of the 1888 baseball season, longtime teammate Al Spalding organized an around-the-world tour to promote the game of baseball. The two teams Spalding selected were the White Stockings and a collection of players from other National League teams. It was during a game played on at the Parc Aristotique in Paris, France on March 8, 1889, when Williamson suffered a torn knee cap which forced him to be bedridden in England on doctor's orders. Though players in the 19th century were responsible for their own medical care, Williamson asked Spalding to help him financially with the mounting medical costs. Spalding refused, citing that he was not obligated to assist, and Williamson never forgave him for this. Williamson, among his baseball contemporaries, wrote the most colorful articles to newspapers as the tour was unfolding. and the 2015 movie "Deadball" depicts his life and journaling of the world tour. - bRef Bullpen wiki & Wikipedia

Sadly, he never really recovered. His career ended in 1890, and he died in 1894 from a variety of maladies. He was 36. He was laid to rest in an unmarked grave at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago until November 6, 2021, when the grave received a dedication thanks to the efforts of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

Redid the facegen from the sketch but then thinned his face a bit to reflect his playing weight. Will catch up on the fg's this weekend but at least wanted to get one up tonight