The Quest for the Nine Gold (er Great) Gloves

[Renfro]

My other theme team (an all Milwaukee team featuring Milwaukee Braves and Brewers) just lost in a Bronze WS to an all-defense team (the Gladstone Glovemen) which had a really interesting roster that included:

Devon White in RF (115 defense 84 error)
Troy Tulowitzki 1B (109 / 93)
Mark Belanger 2B (118 / 83)

The team had the same number of shutout wins as mine (30), had a better opponent's BA (.205 to my .212 --- although the Sullustans did hold opponents to .199 BA last season) and a team ERA of 2.44 to my 2.52. They committed the same number of errors: 68 errors. They caught 32 of 75 stolen base attempts (a 42.7% rate) while we caught 24 of 43 (55.8% ... only 19 stolen bases all year).

The starting rotation:

Larry Dierker
Brett Anderson
Sad Sam Jones
Dennis Martinez

and it looks like they just picked up Whitey Ford ... who went 18-5 for me this season with a 2.08 ERA.

Meanwhile, my Sullustans are down 1-3 in the WS.

Post your Gold Glove and other defensive achievements and thoughts when the season ends.

[Renfro]

The Sullustans netted 5 Great Gloves again this year:



Simmons (3B, 3rd year in a row)
Aparicio (SS, 5th year in a row)
Kevin Pillar (LF, 3rd year in a row)
Brandon Belt (1B, 2nd year in a row - he also hit 27 homers?!?)
Tony Pena (C, 1st year!)

Yokohama's Kiermaier beat out my Kiermaier. Here's their fielding stat lines:





And here's Len Barker's fielding stat line, just in case you want to know what it takes to win a GG in pitching. Now that I've finally won a GG in catching, the pitching GG is the only one I've not won.



Overall, the defense committed 68 errors, an improvement from 2027's 71 but a far cry from the 58 in 2025.



But we really improved in preventing the stolen base. There were only 43 SB attempts (compared to 62 the previous year), and Tony Pena and Charles Johnson threw out 24 of them. That's only 19 successful stolen base attempts in the entire season. Last year, there 30 successful stolen bases (32 for 62).

The air-tight defense, coupled with the off-season/Sunday night acquisitions of both Cy Young and Whitey Ford, resulted in a real attempt at breaking the 100+ year MLB record of 32 shutout wins. We ended up with 28. (Another PT, the Gladstone Glovemen, got 30 shutout victories ... and that's before picking up their own Whitey Ford!)



I was actually a bit surprised that our opponent's batting average went up to .212. In 2027, we actually held our opponent's to .199. I had thought the additions of Young and Ford would at least match last year's effort. Perhaps I should not have jettisoned Kyle Freeland so quickly?

As for results on the field ... the Sullustans, who won 112 games, lost to the New Jersey Moose, an 82 win team who beat two 112-win teams to win the WS and advance. But at least we didn't lose because of an error ... which was the case the previous two times we made it to the playoffs.

On to Silver!!!

[Maddox]

I only netted 3 GG this season.

[Izz]

Just 2 for me this season (McReynolds (CF), Aparicio (SS)), though Fox (2B) was, imo, robbed. Seemed better than the winner in all the relevant stats... But anyway, we won the Championship so why am I grousing?

[bobbycockstrong]

I hit 4 again too. I am convinced that 6 would be a mini miracle (but not impossible) due to what i mentioned before about only so many outs to go around and 9 virtually impossible.

[taz20075]

in 2028 I managed to grab one at 1B (Belt), 2B (Aparicio), SS (Simmons), 3B (Wallach), LF (Pillar), CF (Kiermaier), and RF (Lofton). Lieberthal didn't make the cut. Nor did any pitcher (though one led the league in ERA and another was Pitcher of the Year and MVP).

Bronze league, fwiw.

[Renfro]

Originally Posted by taz20075

in 2028 I managed to grab one at 1B (Belt), 2B (Aparicio), SS (Simmons), 3B (Wallach), LF (Pillar), CF (Kiermaier), and RF (Lofton). Lieberthal didn't make the cut. Nor did any pitcher (though one led the league in ERA and another was Pitcher of the Year and MVP

That's just awesome. Yeah ... Lieberthal is good but I've not seen him win one in any of the leagues I've been in. And that GG Pitcher ... there seems to be just too much luck involved.

Did you check your team pitching stats? One of the great things of having great defense is the crazy effect it has on your pitching. Keep an eye out on your opponent's batting average, your shutout victories. Shutout victories ... with the amount of people doing defensive-minded teams, I would not be surprised to find a team match or beat the 32 shutout victories. I came close in 2028 (with 28) but another team came closer with 30 wins.

Also, keep an eye out on your caught stealing. Lieberthal, a good backup with an equally good arm, and a pitching staff with high hold runners stat
will post remarkable caught stealing and stolen base attempt numbers that I feel nobody pays that much attention to, relative to the amount of people who create teams who like to steal.

[zrog2000]

Originally Posted by Renfro

That's just awesome. Yeah ... Lieberthal is good but I've not seen him win one in any of the leagues I've been in. And that GG Pitcher ... there seems to be just too much luck involved.

I'm sorry, but luck is all there. When 6-7 other teams have the exact same players playing the same positions that you're playing them at, there is nothing but luck that makes your player win the GG over the identical cards on 6-7 other teams.

[Leo_The_Lip]

My goal is to turn 200 DPs in a season. Philly A's did it three straight seasons, 1949 to 1951.

Really hard to find team double play totals historically on the interwebs.

[Renfro]

Originally Posted by Leo_The_Lip

My goal is to turn 200 DPs in a season. Philly A's did it three straight seasons, 1949 to 1951.

Really hard to find team double play totals historically on the interwebs.

Wow ... that's a great, great goal. I feel records like that - typically considered not glamorous - are the ones that the OOTP simulation engine kind of doesn't take into account. I think the obvious one is stolen bases. No team in the modern era ever more than 350 stolen bases in a season, yet I've heard of several teams boosting 500+ stolen bases in a season. There was one remarkable themed team that had 9 players in the top 10 of stolen bases in one season. (Plus, that team only featured knuckle-ballers!)

I've heard that OOTP's bases its stats on a not so distant past (year 2010, I seem to recall) and thus a league's stats are going to somehow conform to that. Put another way, "there's an acceptable range of home runs, we're going to spread them around the league." That may be a reason why we do not hear about sluggers hitting 70+ homers in PT. (If there was one, let me know!)

But then you get the teams with 500+ stolen bases, and your experiment with the 200 DPs, and my quest for 33 shutout victories, complete with side quest of having more shutout victories that successful stolen base attempts against us. OOTP's simulation engine allows for these outlandish and fun pursuits.

Let us know how it pans out.

[Dogberry99]

Groundball pitchers and good infield defense. I never tracked my double play stats when I was fully leaning into these tendencies, but anecdotally speaking, it was a very, very noteworthy game if my team only recorded one. I would argue that 4 was even more common than 1.

[stl jason]

Originally Posted by Leo_The_Lip

My goal is to turn 200 DPs in a season. Philly A's did it three straight seasons, 1949 to 1951.

Really hard to find team double play totals historically on the interwebs.

made me go look on my team to see how they were doing.... turned 73 DPs so far this season (through June 16th).... have to keep an eye on that and see how they progress

[Renfro]

Originally Posted by Dogberry99

Groundball pitchers and good infield defense. I never tracked my double play stats when I was fully leaning into these tendencies, but anecdotally speaking, it was a very, very noteworthy game if my team only recorded one. I would argue that 4 was even more common than 1.

You could've been setting records without knowing it!

[Renfro]

Originally Posted by stl jason

made me go look on my team to see how they were doing....

Me, too. I only have 55 double plays, but 1 triple play! The 55 is most definitely on the low end in my league. Highest is 71 after about 70 games played.

And it is kind of amazing that a Top 10 list of Most Double Plays in a Season isn't readily available with the search terms: most double plays turned MLB team. I mean, you get information - like finding out that Cubs tied the record (7) just last year - but not a ready-made list. Same thing with Least / Most Stolen Bases Against, or opponent's Batting Average. But you'd think the another handy site like baseball-almanac would have it.

[taz20075]

Through 76 games I have 74 DP (3rd most, just 2 behind #1), and have a 66.1 ZR. Out of 40 SB attempts (fewest in the league) I've caught 14. We'll see how I finish out the season.

Edit: Just checked my $$ team and saw a team in the league with 98 DPs through 77 games.

[stl jason]

at the all-star break, my boys have turned 97 DP.... got a shot at 200 if they can keep up the pace and nab a few extra

[Renfro]

Originally Posted by stl jason

at the all-star break, my boys have turned 97 DP.... got a shot at 200 if they can keep up the pace and nab a few extra

Awesome. Who is in your infield? Do you have a bunch of ground ball pitchers?

[stl jason]

Originally Posted by Renfro

Awesome. Who is in your infield? Do you have a bunch of ground ball pitchers?

not exactly a who's-who of defensive titans.... pre-ww2 team (so defensive rating are suspect):

1B - Bill Terry
2B- Eddie Collins Sr
SS- Luke Appling
3B- Pepper Martin (just replaced with Frankie Frisch)

team has the worst zone rating in the league (-38.9); and I have 2 flyball starters and 3 extreme flyball starters.... go figure.

[Renfro]

The Sullust Sulustans Year 2029 Year in Review

We netted only 4 Great Gloves this year:



Belt has won it 3 years in a row.
Aparicio has won it 6 years in a row.
Pillar has won it 4 years in a row.
Kiermaier has won it 5 out of the last 6 years.

Funnily, I have Charles Johnson but he's a backup to my Tony Pena, who won it in 2028. Also, I picked up a Phil Niekro this year, but mine did not do so well defensive. He had 4 errors.

Overall, as a team, we beat the MLB record (65) for fewest errors committed in 162 games. We committed only 53.



Not unrelatedly, we only allowed 20 stolen bases all season!

On to Gold, I think. We got eliminated 1-3 in the DS, but should have a good enough record to earn promotion.

[bobbycockstrong]

I just hit my highest total - a whopping 7 gold gloves in Diamond league





My second baseman (Willy Adames) and RF (Ichiro) still have 10+ ZR seasons, but didnt get the gloves.

I wonder if 7 in a season is a record. I didnt think it was possible due to only so many outs in a season, but here we are haha