1901-2020 AROD Database Sim

[chimanbj]

I ran a simulation that was slightly different. I took the standard AROD database, starting at 1901, removed the histories of the players, and decided to not expand the league, so the original teams in 1901 are still intact in 2020. I also disabled free agency for the entire run. What I ended up with was very interesting.

Pitchers did not dominate in this league. This is evidenced by the fact that only 8 pitchers made it into the HOF. This is compared to 67 position players making it to the Hall.

The Babe still dominated the offensive categories of HR and Slugging percentage. Fifteen players hit at least 500 homers, and 13 players had 3000 hits.

Only four pitchers had 3000 strikeouts, and no one had 300 wins! Two pitchers had over 300 complete games and two players had more than 70 shutouts.

The St. Louis Cardinals made it to the World Series 21 times, winning 14 of them. The Red Sox were 3 for 10 in the WS, and the Brooklyn Dodgers were 9 of 18. The White Sox won 3 times, but never made it to the WS after 1951. The Cubs didn't make it to the championship after 1967, but won 5 times out of 7 tries before then. The Yankees were fairly terrible, only winning 3 of their 5 tries in 118 years. The Washington Senators, a symbol of futility IRL, were as dominant as the Cardinals, winning 14 of 22 World Series championships.

If you're curious about some of your favorite stars, let me know!

[Rasmuth]

how about so old Dodgers...Garvey, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax and Piazza.
Also Bob Feller (he's dominated my sim using Arod DB)

[Russ]

Walt Bond.

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by Rasmuth

how about so old Dodgers...Garvey, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax and Piazza.
Also Bob Feller (he's dominated my sim using Arod DB)

Steve Garvey spent most of his time with the White Sox (the LA Dodgers never existed in this universe). He only lasted 7 seasons in the majors, though. He ended with a career BA of .287, 915 hits and 89 career homers.

Mike Piazza, as expected, was a great hitting catcher. He played with the Senators, Indians and Red Sox. He ended with a career BA of .308, hitting 232 homers and hitting 224 doubles. He won 2 gold gloves, the rookie of the year award in 1993, and the MVP award in 1995. He did not make it into the HOF, however.

Duke Snider was having a decent career before injuries prematurely ended it. He got 3 MVP awards, and played 6 full seasons. 2 other seasons were shortened by injuries, and his last 4 were spent mainly on the reserve list. He batted .321 and hit 231 homers. If he had been able to play a full career, he would have been in the HOF for sure.

Sandy Koufax played in 11 seasons for the Dodgers, and started out with a great rookie season, going 23-8. He would never be quite as good again. In his second season, he went 15-6, and then started losing games in double digits, ending his career with a 118-130 record, with a still-impressive 2.78 ERA. He did manage to strike out 2476 batters while walking only 834. In the era that Koufax pitched, the Reds and Cardinals ruled the roost. The Dodgers were in the cellar from 1960-1993. In 1995, they finally got back to the World Series, winning 5 from 2003-2019.

Bob Feller didn't dominate, but he did have nine strong season for the Indians, before being sent to the reserve roster. He struck out 1697 batters, but walked 1208. He finished with a W-L record of 156-106, with an ERA of 3.08.

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by Russ

Walt Bond.

Walt Bond had a 3-year career that was reminiscent of legendary players such as...um...well, he pretty much was a bad player.

In 3 season, he batted .179, with 1 homer and 5 stolen bases, although he was also caught stealing 4 times. He played with Cleveland from 1960-1962. He did have a 2 game hitting streak, but he never really made it anywhere. Walt lingered on the reserve roster until finally retiring in 1973.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by chimanbj

Walt Bond had a 3-year career that was reminiscent of legendary players such as...um...well, he pretty much was a bad player.

In 3 season, he batted .179, with 1 homer and 5 stolen bases, although he was also caught stealing 4 times. He played with Cleveland from 1960-1962. He did have a 2 game hitting streak, but he never really made it anywhere. Walt lingered on the reserve roster until finally retiring in 1973.

He's usually a beast in my sims. Thanks.

[Rasmuth]

hope you don't mind some more:

Addie Joss
Tony Conigliaro
Herb Score
Don Mattingly
Gil Hodges
Nolan Ryan

[Anthony Odarczenko]

Wow, not too far from reality. The Cubs still suck

[Doughnuts?]

The pitchers underperformed because of the aging bug.

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by Doughnuts?

The pitchers underperformed because of the aging bug.

I set the Pitcher Aging Speed to .500, and it still performed like this...

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by Anthony Odarczenko

Wow, not too far from reality. The Cubs still suck

Well, they *did* win 5 World Series...including back-to-back championships in 1965 and 1966. Overall, though, they performed 74 games behind the pythagorean theorem...so, yeah, they sucked.

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by Rasmuth

hope you don't mind some more:

Addie Joss
Tony Conigliaro
Herb Score
Don Mattingly
Gil Hodges
Nolan Ryan

Addie Joss was a decent pitcher in his day, winning 90, while losing 85. In six seasons with the Indians, he struck out 564, while walking 201, in 182 games. He had a career high of 22 wins.

Tony Conigliaro was not the most hearty of players, getting injured in six of his nine active seasons. He ended with a career BA of .232. He lingered on the White Sox reserve roster from 1973-1980, when he finally retired.

Herb Score was a great pitcher for the Indians, going 117-66 in seven seasons. He held opposing batters to a low .202 batting average. While he struck out over 1600 batters, he also walked close to 1000. By not giving up a lot of hits, however, he tended to keep his teams in the game, keeping his ERA at 2.90.

Don Mattingly was injured in his rookie year, tearing a thigh muscle, and missed 13 months. He was never injured again, but being out for more than a year hurt his career, as the Yankees moved on without him. Don played 113 and 135 games in his first two seasons, and never played more than 50 for the rest of his career. He only played in three more seasons after coming back from surgery. He finished with a .253 BA. A sad story for a player with a lot of potential.

Gil Hodges batted .287 for the Dodgers, but disappointed in the power department, hitting 96 homers in 8 seasons, never hitting more than 17 in any one season.

Nolan Ryan was one of the few pitchers to get over 3000 strikeouts, ranking 3rd with 3,309 behind Scott Williamson and Satchel Paige. He was 249-153 for his career, and was the rookie of the year and a 4-time Cy Young Award winner. He pitched his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers He retired in 1983 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame!

[Rasmuth]

well...I'm game for some more...

Josh Gibson
Stan Musial
Lou Brock
Don Drysdale
Yaz
Hal Trosky (he was a monster in my current replay)

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by Rasmuth

well...I'm game for some more...

Josh Gibson
Stan Musial
Lou Brock
Don Drysdale
Yaz
Hal Trosky (he was a monster in my current replay)

I'll start with the monster, Hal Trosky. He played from 1934-1949, 7 1/2 seasons with Cleveland, and 8 1/2 with Boston. He was traded for Archie McKain in 1941. Archie had a few good seasons after the trade, but trailed off miserably thereafter. Hal, however, averaged 31 homers a year, and finished with 385, and a BA of .318. He won the MVP award in 1943, batting .347, hitting 35 homers and knocking in 129, in 132 games. He also had a great eye, walking 817 times in his career while striking out only 729 times. In the end, he was a Hall of Famer!!

Carl Yastrzemski played 10 seasons, 9 for the Red Sox, and one with the Phillies. The early part of his career was outstanding, winning the AL MVP award twice, and winning a gold glove 8 times in his career. His offensive numbers trailed off badly. After batting over .300 in his first three seasons, he didn't bat over .300 in any subsequent season, finishing with a career BA of .289.

Don Drysdale was just another pitcher in this replay. He lasted only 9 seasons, racking up a W-L record of 125-142, with an ERA of 3.22. His K/BB ratio was a whopping 3.48, however. In the end, he just didn't cut it.

Lou Brock was the rookie of the year in 1962, but was traded from the Cubs in 1964 to the Indians, where he never saw the light of day. He last saw playing time in 1968, and finally retired in 1974. It's inexplicable why Cleveland didn't use him, as he finished with a career BA of .308. He did steal 232 bases in his career, only four of which could be considered full seasons.

He was a rookie of the year, a 2 time gold glove and MVP award winner. He played 21 seasons for the same team, racking up 371 home runs, and knocking in 1757. He stole 454 bases, and had a career BA of .301. He holds the record of the most doubles with 672 and was inducted into the HOF as a reward for a career well-done. His name is Stan Musial.

For 25 seasons, he stood behind the plate for the New York Giants. He hit 603 home runs. 1889 RBI, a .292 career BA, stole 318 bases, and had 2898 hits. He was a 5-time MVP. He is hall of famer Josh Gibson.

[plannine]

Did you use a 3, 4 or 5 man pitching staff?

What did you have the other pitching settings on?

Did you change them over time or during the season.
(i never use 5 man rotations except in September for 1939-2000 ball)

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by plannine

Did you use a 3, 4 or 5 man pitching staff?

What did you have the other pitching settings on?

Did you change them over time or during the season.
(i never use 5 man rotations except in September for 1939-2000 ball)

I'm on a 4-man rotation, endurance is set to normal, reliever use is normal, and closer use is very rarely.

[Rasmuth]

I'm a sucker for this kinda stuff...so I'll ask some more (stop me if you don't want to do this anymore)

Sam McDowell
Don Sutton
Eddie Mathews
Honus Wagner
Ted Williams
Hank Aaron
Willie Mays
Ken Kravec
Steve Busby

[RchW]

Originally Posted by chimanbj

Well, they *did* win 5 World Series...including back-to-back championships in 1965 and 1966. Overall, though, they performed 74 games behind the pythagorean theorem...so, yeah, they sucked.

Since it was his era, how did Fergie Jenkins do?

[metsgeek]

Jim St. Vrain
Roy Hitt
Mark Fidrych
Darryl Strawberry
Doc Gooden
Frank Schulte

[chimanbj]

Originally Posted by Rasmuth

I'm a sucker for this kinda stuff...so I'll ask some more (stop me if you don't want to do this anymore)

Sam McDowell
Don Sutton
Eddie Mathews
Honus Wagner
Ted Williams
Hank Aaron
Willie Mays
Ken Kravec
Steve Busby

I'm probably going to rerun this simulation to see what effects the patch has on the outcomes.

Sudden Sam McDowell pitched for the Cleveland Indians for 6 seasons before falling prey to the nastiness that is the reserve list. He was 90-66, with a 3.31 ERA, and struck out just over 1400 batters, while walking only 588.

Don Sutton is remembered with fondness IRL. In this simulation, he was just another pitcher, compling a 111-91 W-L record and an ERA of 3.38 (very similar to McDowell) He pitched for 7 full seasons with the Senators, retiring in 1980, after having not pitched since 1973.

Eddie Mathews played for the Boston Braves for 16 years, and then signed on with the Dodgers to finish out his career. He had a career BA of .262, hitting 505 homers and knocking in over 1300 runs. After winning 3 MVP awards, the rookie of the year award, and 11 gold gloves, Eddie was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

Honus Wagner never reached the heights he did IRL. He had a career BA of .254, and although he played for the Pirates for 10 years, finishing with Milwaukee, he never made much of an impression. His early success of hitting for average, and sealing bases, was soon followed by years of sub .250 averages and retired after a dead arm injury in 1912.

The Kid had a long career with Boston, playing for 15 years with the Red Sox. He finished his career with a .297 BA and 329 home runs. His OBP is an amazing .447. The man walked 1599 times and struck out only 724 times. He was a marvel! He was inducted into the HOF in 1953.

Hammerin' Hank didn't do well, though through no fault of his own. 7 seasons with the Brewers, and he amazzed a .293 BA, with 160 homers. It's unclear why he was removed out of the starting lineup, but the lack of an expansion probably contributed to his demise. New players come in, old players get squeezed out...

Say Hey Willie Mays was on his way to a HOF career, when a fractured elbow ended his career after 9 years with the Giants. He won one MVP award, and a Gold Glove award. He batted .294, stole 272 bases and socked 237 home runs.

Ken Kravec lasted 4 years with the White Sox, winning 48 games and losing 33. As quickly as he showed up, he was gone. Never to be heard from again.

Steve Busby had a career that some would call a season. He won 23 games, and lost 16, with an ERA of 3.84. Five seasons with the Indians were not worth too much. Now 70 years old, he wishes he had done a "Moonlight Graham" and become a doctor.