Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

andycummings65 wrote:
Nowhere are outlier seasons worse than in the RP-only grouping. I think the top RPs should be Rivera, Hoffman, Billy Wagner, Sutter, Eckersley, Fingers, Lee Smith, etc.
RPs can be wildly inconsistent in MLB from season to season. If we go grab outlier seasons with some great WHIP from some dude that never came even close to duplicating that feat, we have chance to put another Dale Murray at the top of the Reliever heap. This may not bother you, but, again, I'd like the set to somewhat represent the history of MLB. Some say "the outliers are part of history" and I would not disagree that they are part of the history, but to me the true history is for the very best players to have the very best cards.

Again, just my opinions...….

Tatum and Springer nominations kind of fit into this. Tatum will probably be a 4.50m RP, Springer around 3.75-4m. Everyone is CERTAINLY free to nominate a card, I just wish the best RPs would be guys who were historically great for a longer period of time.

As we wait for that last nomination to drop:

Likes, in no particular order:
2009 Adrian Gonzalez, no card, nice power, Padres help
1969 Ollie Brown, no card, like that Platoon line vs LHP, good defense
2016 DJ LeMahieu, nice new option at 2b
2009 Nick Punto, very good defense at multiple positions, supersub
1976 Ron Leflore, fun smallball DH
1991 Bobby Bonilla, finally a good Pirates card, uncommon split with lots of power vs LHP and lots of OBP vs RHP
1941 Thornton Lee, an improvement, helps that CWS pre set, a 2L when a good number of prewar SP cards are E
1997 Rusty Greer, time for him to get a card, many stars from the 1990s are lost in the shuffle of trying to add 2000s cards, nice bat
1962 Al Kaline, this will be Kaline's most powerful card, with lots more HR than his other cards
1933 Pepper Martin, this would be a GREAT addition for smallball teams
1981 Andre Dawson, this card has insane power, and is much more balanced than the other Hawk Expos cards
1954 Minnie Minoso, an improvement on our current best Minoso, plays great LF defense and is playable at 3b (4e26)
1959 Dick Stuart, much better hitting card, and his defense at 1b is a 3, meaning you can play him there and let him hit
2011 Jacoby Ellsbury, looks like a good addition, CF-1(0)e0
1991 Rick Aguilera, adds to Minnesota pen

Along with the cards Andy has just mentioned, here are four I like, including 3 catchers

1954 Smoky Burgess, PHI, Bats-L, 8R Balance, C-4(+1)e9: A very good-hitting small ball card vs RHP. Depending on price, Burgess could also work as a DH vs RHP.
1986 Ron Hassey. As with Burgess, not-great defense, but he should hit RHP. I used to use Hassey a lot in Royals Stadium when I played Back to the 80s. He usually came through with the OBP and also hit some HRs.
1989 Mickey Tettleton, Orioles. Switch-hitting C. Solid, balanced offense and very acceptable defense. The "3" injury is a problem, but will lower his price.
1897 Fred Clarke: A .461 OBP plus a .530 slug sounds like a good small-ball combo to me

I really like the 2017 Arenado card. Along with the soon to be added 2007 Chipper Jones card, will make a fantastic 3B platoon at 200m. Also adds another Rockies card, who like the Rays need more cards.

Speaking of the Rays, the 1999 Fred McGriff card would be a welcome addition!

Thanks,
Bill

I really like that El Duque card because well, he's El Duque and I mean, c'mon, who else in these nominations even has a nickname? I'll give you the Crime Dog. He was a rookie in 1998. A 74 year old rookie!

Where do you think Adam Ottavino got that whole 'I can strike out Babe Ruth' comment from? Duque. He just said it in Spanish.

Look at that Leg Kick!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmy-0n8kcq4

ALL.

TIME.

GREAT.

How are we feeling about the 68 Messersmith card which was accomplished in only 5 starts and some relief appearances, totaling 81 total innings? We already one of his best cards (1974), although 1969 or 1975 may be slightly better.
Is this a road we want to go down?...…..

andycummings65 wrote:How are we feeling about the 68 Messersmith card which was accomplished in only 5 starts and some relief appearances, totaling 81 total innings? We already one of his best cards (1974), although 1969 or 1975 may be slightly better.
Is this a road we want to go down?...…..

And yet, he already leads the voting.

*Just think, a little more support for his 69 card, and I probably wouldn't have even thought of that nomination (someone else might have anyway though)

STEVE F wrote:*Just think, a little more support for his 69 card, and I probably wouldn't have even thought of that nomination (someone else might have anyway though)

I think his 1975 card may be even better than 1969.

Guess I'll start prepping to nominate that 1974 Fred Lynn card...…….

It's funny how most of us look at innings and at bats. I doubt anyone would have a problem with putting in a hitter with 360 plate appearances. In fact, pitchers should be rated in terms of batters faced, not innings pitched (in fact,Strat makes the cards based on batters faced). Messersmith 81 IP would translate to about 356 batters faced (he actually faced 321, but I normally just ballpark it by multiplying innings by 4.4). Hardly a "fluke" performance. Also, Angels need a good Messermith for replays, Dodgers already have one.