new historical sim starting in 1903

[Impossible2Refute]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't visited the historical forum in a while. I decided to run the sim again. This time going through every current player's career. I'm not quite all the way through. There's still guys like Felix Hernandez and David Wright around in 2015.

Database: Lahman's - some star negro league players included. My rosters were only updated until 2005. Once I realized I wouldn't have the 2006 rookies I was too far in the sim to start over.

The league: I started in 1903 with all the real teams and real rosters (and continue to sim with those same 16 teams).
1958 - I added the amatuer draft. I know it was later in the early 60s, but at the beginning of the year a bunch of players weren't on teams and they were being signed so a way to get rid of that was to add the amatuer draft.
1973 - added the DH
1977 - Added Free Agency
Also, the playoffs are formatted so that the winner of the national league regular season faces the winner of the american league regular season in a 9 game series to raise the sample size of games to try to help make sure that the best team wins. If it were up to me today, I'd make it an 11 game series.

Issues with the sim
Financials - One would think the parity of play would have improved in adding free agency. However, it did not because so many teams could not afford to pay for free agents. In about 1985 I was really annoyed with this because the same teams kept winning so I put every team's cash at -20,000 million. And within a few years all teams were positive. The reason some teams were over a billion dollars in debt is because for years players couldn't leave teams. They were on their original teams until 77. Thus, players were paid money that teams didn't have. The parity somewhat improved. In the 90s and 2000s the Pirates went to 9 straight championships. That was kind of ridiculous, but that's just how it worked out.

Another problem was players losing talent levels. Often, when a young player comes up. We'll say Ty Cobb in this example. After the first season, his ratings are better than his talent ratings. And as his ratings lower to his talent ratings, his talent ratings drop even more. Starting with Cobb and a few others - when their talent level would drop lower than their real ratings I would take the talent rating and add 4 more points above their best current rating (confusing process to read about, I know). I would shorlist players and make sure those players are closest to their real ratings as possible. I would change the ratings once in the offseason if needed. Once the player reached the age of 24 I would unshortlist the player and let the computer do it's thing. Cobb ended up having a spectacular career.

Stolen bases
Often, even in the early 1900s, the league leader in stolen bases would have 9 or 10. This I couldn't figure out. I would put the stealing setting on very often and they'd still steal very rarely. I didn't even have this problem with my last historical 100 year sim. So the stolen base stats are skewed big time. However, once real rookies stopped coming into the league, the stolen base numbers started gradually returning to normal. Now I'm in 2015 and the league leader in steals last year had over 40.

Now on to the stats of the League
Now keep in mind that these stats go through 2015. If players aren't retired I don't have their stats listed.

I will list the teams, how many pennants and championships they won from right to left, ending with their overall winning percentage.
Boston Red Sox - 16 - 9 - .533
Boston Braves - 10 - 7 - .454
Brooklyn Dodgers - 15 - 9 - .494
Chicago White Sox - 3 - 1 - .442
Chicago Cubs - 10 - 6 - .501
Cincinnati Reds - 14 - 9 - .533
Cleveland Indians - 28 - 13 - .544
Detroit Tigers - 18 - 7 - .538
New York Yankees - 19 - 6 - .497
New York Giants - 16 - 9 - .498
Philadelphia Athletics - 7 - 4 - .481
Philadelphia Phillies - 6 - 2 - .468
Pittsburgh Pirates - 32 - 17 - .552
St. Louis Browns - 8 - 0 - .501
St. Louis Cardinals - 12 - 6 - .499
Washington Senators - 14 - 8 - .464

Now I'll list all 16 teams in order for all 3
Pennants
1. Pittsburgh - 32
2. Cleveland - 28
3. New York(A) - 19
4. Detroit - 18
5. Boston(A) - 16
5. New York(N) - 16
7. Brooklyn - 15
8. Cincinnati - 14
8. Washington - 14
10. St. Louis(N) - 12
11. Boston(N) - 10
11. Chicago(N) - 10
13. St. Louis(A) - 8
14. Philadelphia(A) - 7
15. Philadelphia(N) - 6
16. Chicago(A) - 3

Champions
1. Pirates - 17
2. Cleveland - 13
3. Boston (A) - 9
3. Brooklyn - 9
3. Cinnincati - 9
3. New York(N) - 9
7. Washington - 8
8. Boston(N) - 7
8. Detroit - 7
8. Philadelphia(A) - 7
11. Chicago(N) - 6
11. New York(A) - 6
11. St. Louis (N) - 6
14. Philadelphia(N) - 2
15. Chicago(A) - 1
16. St. Louis(A) - 0

Winning Percentage
1. Pittsburgh - .552
2. Cleveland - .544
3. Detroit - .538
4. Boston(A) - .533
4. Cincinnati - .533
6. Chicago(N) - .501
6. St. Louis(A) - .501
8. St. Louis(N) - .499
9. New York(N) - .498
10. New York(A) - .497
11. Brooklyn - .494
12. Philadelphia(A) - .481
13. Philadelphia(N) - .468
14. Washington - .464
15. Boston(N) - .454
16. Chicago(A) - .442

So there's 4 things that I've drawn from this information at the moment
1. Pittsburgh dominated
2. The Braves took advantage of the years they were good and got 7 championships.
3. The St. Louis Browns were very unlucky. They went over .500 the whole sim and came away with 0 championships. Yet Boston, who was 15th in total winning percentage had 7 and 2 more appearences.
4. It would have sucked to be a White Sox fan during this time period

Now to the players. Also, Ted Williams was amazing until he had a career ending injury in 1944. I'll do top 10 career stats in a couple of categories. And then I'll put the number of hits they got in real life. Also I'm considering anyone who played before 1903 not eligible.

Hits
1. 3,872 Dick Hoblitzel - 1,310
2. 3,865 Mel Ott - 2,876
3. 3,606 Frank Thomas - 2,262(career not yet over)
4. 3,532 Jimmie Foxx - 2,646
5. 3,503 Johnny Bench - 2,048
6. 3,477 Jim Nealon - 240(crazy huh?)
7. 3,417 Ken Keltner - 1,570
8. 3,393 Dick Allen - 1,848
9. 3,375 Roberto Alomar 2,724
10. 3,374 Rogers Hornsby 2,930

Alright, so no players on the top 10 list actually had over 3,000 hits in real life. Overall, 37 guys had 3,000 hits, and Arky Vaughn had exactly 3,000. On a side note Cobb had 2,898 and Rose had 2,348. Now the same thing with homeruns

Homeruns
1. 729 Babe Ruth - 714
2. 727 Tony Batista - 219(career technically not over)
3. 714 Mark McGwire - 583
4. 678 Sam Horn - 62(where'd this guy come from?)
5. 649 Darryl Strawberry - 335(if only he hadn't found coke)
6. 648 Mel Ott - 511
7. 647 Ted Kluszewski - 279
8. 621 Frank Thomas - 487(career not over)
9. 606 Willie Aikens - 110
10. 593 Frank Robinson - 586(only 7 off - not bad)

Overall, 36 guys hit over 500 homeruns. Andy Van Slyke had exactly 500. As far as guys with over 600 that aren't in the top 10.
Hank Aaron - 72 - he had a career ending injury in 1958
Barry Bonds - 293 - played from 86 to 99
Willie Mays - 294 - played from 51 to 69
The only man ever to hit 4 homeruns in a game was Don Mattingly in 1990.

Triple Crown Winners
1920 - Babe Ruth .385/59/146
1921 - Babe Ruth .402/52/128
1929 - Chuck Klein .385/45/166
1949 - Ted Kluszewski .348/59/157
2000 - Bernie Williams .357/52/158
2003 - Todd Helton .373/38/164

Would put all the men who hit .400 in here, but there's no list for that. Should've written it down as I went along in the league. I know in 2000 or 2001 Mark Kotsay hit .401. I think he's the only guy in modern baseball(60s and up) that ever hit that mark.

Single-Season homeruns over 60
1923 - Babe Ruth 71
1929 - Buck Leonard 60
1950 - Ted Kluszewski 67
1953 - Ted Kluszewski 64
1955 - Ted Kluszewski 60
1987 - Willie Aikens 65
1987 - Andy Van Slyke 63
1987 - Sam Horn 66
2001 - Mark McGwire 61
2004 - Tony Batista 64

Anyone else notice 1987 was a good year for the long ball?

MVPS
1. 7 Dick Allen
1. 7 Ty Cobb
1. 7 Mel Ott
2. 6 Frank Robinson
2. 6 Babe Ruth

Also, as far as RBIs go, Turkey Stearns hit 196 in 1925. The only guy to get over 180 was Ted Kluszewski with 181 in 1950. But now we'll go to some pitching stats. In about 1969 I moved the 4 man rotation to 5. I wasn't sure what year to do it. I just figured I'd do it after the last year a guy had 30 wins. Again, not using anyone that pitched before 1903. However, Cy Young ended with 439. I'll do the number, the pitcher and then the real number like with hits and homeruns.

Wins
1. 493 Bob Feller - 266(don't think he would've gotten that many had he not gone to the war)
2. 463 Hal Newhouser - 207
3. 419 Satchel Paige - 28(a little off for obvious reasons)
4. 401 Mule Watson - 50
5. 397 Bert Blyleven - 287
5. 397 Larry French - 197
7. 376 Weldon Henley - 32
8. 349 Steve Carlton - 329(making progress)
9. 346 Walter Johnson - 417
10. 335 Don Drysdale - 209
10. 335 Lefty Gomez - 189

Definetly some names up there that shouldn't be..but that's how it goes. Overall 25 guys had over 300 wins. Clemens had 331(348 right now). Koufax had 313. Nolan Ryan had 123 and was a reliver a lot of his career.

Strikeouts
1. 6,829 Bob Feller - 2,581
2. 5,877 Hal Newhouser - 1,796
3. 5,097 Satchell Paige - 288
4. 5,092 Steve Carlton - 4,136(making progress - only 1,000 off)
5. 4,824 Roger Clemens - 4,604(career over?)
6. 4,809 Sandy Koufax - 2,396
7. 4,429 Bery Blyleven - 3,701
8. 4,312 Don Drysdale - 2,486
9. 4,146 Walter Johnson - 3,509
10. 4,004 Pedro Martinez - 2,998(career not over)

18 or more strikeouts in a single game
1951 Bob Feller 18
1962 Herb Score 18
1975 Vida Blue 19
1988 Roger Clemens 18

Perfect Games
1904 Cy Young
1918 Bunny Hearn
1931 Bill Walker
1942 Satchell Paige
1952 Bob Feller
1963 Dick Hall
1967 Gary Peters
1967 Don Sutton
1971 Tom Seaver
1976 Dan Spillner
1982 Dickie Noles
1983 Dickie Noles(both vs the Cardinals while pitching for Dodgers)
1991 German Jiminez

30 win seasons
1905 Noodles Hahn 30-12
1919 Bunny Hearn 31-8
1922 Hippo Vaughn 30-6
1924 Bunny Hearn 31-9
1932 Satchell Paige 30-11
1934 Lefty Gomez 32-4
1935 Lefty Gomez 34-2
1939 Satchell Paige 31-10
1939 Lefty Gomez 34-5
1941 Lefty Gomez 31-7
1944 Bob Feller 31-8
1946 Bob Feller 32-4
1947 Bob Feller 32-3
1951 Joe Hatten 30-10
1963 Jack Kralick 30-9
2010 Mark Buehrle 31-3

Also thought I'd mention that in 1998 Pedro went 29-1

Cy Young Awards
1. 12 Satchell Paige
2. 10 Bob Feller
2. 10 Lefty Gomez
3. 6 Steve Carlton
4. 5 Bert Blyleven
4. 5 Chris Carpenter
4. 5 Hal Newhouser



Alright...well that's my sim. Feel free to ask me about any player. Past or current. I encourage everyone to ask questions. I'll let ya know his stats, where he was at, how many world series titles he has, what awards he's won. Lemme know. It was fun.

[Impossible2Refute]

Oh come on....24 views and no one has responded or listed a name yet they want to know about yet? Let's go people.

[GoCanes]

How about Bob Lemon, Hank Greenberg and Bob Harshman?

[lewis31lewis52]

I always love reading these things, good work on it.

Since GoCanes already asked about Hammerin' Hank, how about Charlie Gehringer and Harry Heilmann?

Nice to see Newhouser dominate in this sim.

[khucke]

I`m surprised at the high win totals of the leading pitchers and the high hit totals of batters, on the other side the homerun numbers seem to be very much in line with the real world. Can you give a quick run-down of their career length. What were you aging and development modifiers, and did you have to alter them during the sim?

[Unoriginal Name]

How did you handle park factors?

[Impossible2Refute]

Originally Posted by GoCanes

How about Bob Lemon, Hank Greenberg and Bob Harshman?

Bob Lemon
1948-1953 for Cleveland
The most at bats he ever had in a season was 22. Career .230 average with a .287 obp. He had 6 rbis. And never had a postseason at-bat. Cleveland won the world series in 1948 and 49. However, it doesn't say in his history that he won championships with the team. Maybe he got sent back down to the reserve roster for the world series.

Hank Greenberg
1933 to 1951 with Detroit - Had a very good career.
51-52 Philadelphia Athletics
And he had 3 at bats with the Giants in 52
Hits - 2,641
Homeruns - 477
Average - .291
OBP - .400
Single Season Highs
Hits - 203 in 1939
Homeruns - 44 in 1941
RBIs - 141 in 1941
Average - .337 in 1939
OBP - .478 in 1947(368 at bats that year)

12 time all-star
3 time gold glove award winner
2 time mvp - 1941 and 1945
No Pennants

Jack Harshman
There is no Bob Harshman on my database or baseball-reference.com's database. However, there is a Jack Harshman...I assume that is who you mean?
54-57 Chicago White Sox
58-59 Cincinnati Reds
60-62 New York Yankees
63-64 Pittsburgh Pirates
Harshman had a solid 10 year career going 159-195 with a career 4.38 ERA.
His best season was in 1960 with the Yanks. In 311 innings, he went 20-12 with a 3.84 ERA.
1954 - led the AL in losses and saves with 24 and 21.
1956 - Had 202 walks to lead the AL

[Impossible2Refute]

Originally Posted by lewis31lewis52

I always love reading these things, good work on it.

Since GoCanes already asked about Hammerin' Hank, how about Charlie Gehringer and Harry Heilmann?

Nice to see Newhouser dominate in this sim.

Charlie Gehringer
1926 to 1930 DET
1936 - a few more at bats with DET
career .299 average and .338 obp
12 homeruns
2 time all-star
Won 2 pennants with Tigers and a world series in 1926
In 1929 he tore angle ligaments and was out for 8 months
After that his skills started to decline.
1927 - hit .344 with a .374 obp

Harry Heilmann
1916-1923 Detroit Tigers
1,010 hits
.294 average
.356 OBP
3 time all-star
1 gold glove
won 1 pennant with Tigers in 1919
Surely would have had a good career, but fractured his knee in 1923 - career ending injury.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by lewis31lewis52

Since GoCanes already asked about Hammerin' Hank,

Actually, GoCanes asked about Hank Greenberg, not Hammerin Hank.


I'd like to know how Hammerin Hank did though...........

[Impossible2Refute]

Originally Posted by khucke

I`m surprised at the high win totals of the leading pitchers and the high hit totals of batters, on the other side the homerun numbers seem to be very much in line with the real world. Can you give a quick run-down of their career length. What were you aging and development modifiers, and did you have to alter them during the sim?

You want to know the homerun hitter career lengths?

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=128090 - this is what I used for modifiers - and I did not alter during the sim.

[Impossible2Refute]

Originally Posted by Unoriginal Name

How did you handle park factors?

I did not mess with park factors. I just left the parks the same throughout the whole sim. I don't think that really messed with the homerun totals though. Each year the player creation modifiers would adjust for historical accuracy. I feel that has much more affect on homeruns than park adjustments do.

[Impossible2Refute]

Originally Posted by BruceM

Actually, GoCanes asked about Hank Greenberg, not Hammerin Hank.


I'd like to know how Hammerin Hank did though...........

Hank Aaron
1954 to 1958 Cleveland Indians
72 homeruns in 551 career games.
Fractured his elbow in 1958 which ended his career.
2 time all-star
1957(best season) - .280 average, .351 obp, 28 homeruns, 97 rbis, 36 doubles, and 169 hits
I don't think had he stayed healthy he would've had the numbers he ended up with. However, I think he could have been close to 300 homeruns and maybe 4 more all-star appearences.

[Osama]

I am curious to know how Sandy Koufax did.

Also...Rickey Henderson, Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken Jr....

TY

[Impossible2Refute]

Originally Posted by Osama

I am curious to know how Sandy Koufax did.

Also...Rickey Henderson, Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken Jr....

TY

Sandy Koufax
1957-1974 Brooklyn Dodgers
313-165, 2.25 ERA
In 62 innings of postseason pitching he went 6-1 with a 1.01 ERA and 77 strikeouts.
1960(best season) went 29-5 with a 1.33 ERA and 340 strikeouts in 290 innings.
10 time all-star
3 time Cy Young Award winner - 1958, 1959, 1960
led league in winning percentage 6 times
led league in strikeouts 5 times
led league in k's per 9 innings 9 times
5 world series championships in 5 trys 1957-1961

Rickey Henderson
1978, 1980-1984, 1987 Boston Braves
Henderson came up at a young age and his ratings just kept going down...I even tried to interfere with it a little. Also, stolen base stats were skewed in this sim. However, Henderson could take a walk.
Career .220 average and .327 obp and an impressive .280 slugging percentage
1982(best season) he took 85 walks and was 7th in the national league.

Don Mattingly
1983-1995 Philadelphia Phillies
1996-1998 St. Louis Browns
Hits - 2,675
Homeruns - 373
Average - .314
OBP - .361
1987(best season) - 239 hits, 48 homeruns, 170 rbis, .358 average, .393 obp, and 52 doubles
9 time all-star
1 time gold glove
2 time MVP - 1986 and 1987
3 pennants and 1 world series(1987)
had a heck of a career

Cal Ripken Jr
1981-1989 Boston Red Sox
1990-1993 Chicago White Sox
1994 Philadelphia Athletics
Hits -1,833
Homeruns - 337
Average - .257
OBP - .318
1986(best season) - 185 hits, 41 homeruns, 132 RBIs, .309 average, .413 obp
4 time all-star
3 gold gloves
7 pennants and 4 championships with the Red Sox

[GoCanes]

[QUOTE=Impossible2Refute;2008547]Bob Lemon
1948-1953 for Cleveland
The most at bats he ever had in a season was 22. Career .230 average with a .287 obp. He had 6 rbis. And never had a postseason at-bat. Cleveland won the world series in 1948 and 49. However, it doesn't say in his history that he won championships with the team. Maybe he got sent back down to the reserve roster for the world series.

hmm Bob Lemon was a pitcher for all but his 1st two years ('41-2) which he played a few games a 3B in late season action, then he had a pretty good pitching career after WWII.

Also you said you used the lahman database, how did you handle the guys that import as DHs because they didn't play the field the 1st few years of their careers? Thanx for sharing your sim results.

[molarmite]

Originally Posted by Osama

I am curious to know how Sandy Koufax did.

Also...Rickey Henderson, Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken Jr....

TY

I think someone forgot to log out of their alias.

[lewis31lewis52]

Originally Posted by BruceM

Actually, GoCanes asked about Hank Greenberg, not Hammerin Hank.


I'd like to know how Hammerin Hank did though...........

I meant he asked for the original Hammerin' Hank.

Could you possibly tell me if the Tigers ever had any dominant stretches during the sim?

[Impossible2Refute]

[QUOTE=GoCanes;2008643]

Originally Posted by Impossible2Refute

Bob Lemon
1948-1953 for Cleveland
The most at bats he ever had in a season was 22. Career .230 average with a .287 obp. He had 6 rbis. And never had a postseason at-bat. Cleveland won the world series in 1948 and 49. However, it doesn't say in his history that he won championships with the team. Maybe he got sent back down to the reserve roster for the world series.

hmm Bob Lemon was a pitcher for all but his 1st two years ('41-2) which he played a few games a 3B in late season action, then he had a pretty good pitching career after WWII.

Also you said you used the lahman database, how did you handle the guys that import as DHs because they didn't play the field the 1st few years of their careers? Thanx for sharing your sim results.

For some reason I assumed Lemon was a position player throughout his career. Only excuse I have is...he was before my time. Just looked him up again. He never put up over 86 innings in a year. Went 25-10 with a 2.78 ERA. So good numbers in limited innings. 281 innings in all. Also collected 16 saves throughout his career. Sorry for the confusion.

Also...your DH question. I don't do anything with the guys that enter the game as DHs. If they can play another position, then the player's team will change him to that position on its own.

[Impossible2Refute]

Originally Posted by lewis31lewis52

I meant he asked for the original Hammerin' Hank.

Could you possibly tell me if the Tigers ever had any dominant stretches during the sim?

1911 to 1915 - 4 pennants and 2 championships(14 and 15)
1925-1931 - 5 pennants and 2 championships(25 and 26)

Those are the only big stretches. There were 2 other times they won 2 pennants in a row.

4 of their 5 championships from 1903 to 2005(the years where real players came out of the databases) came from those stretches of dominance.

[Lenon Honor]

How did Matt Bush do? he is my cousin.