Fantasy Baseball Advice

All Time Baseball (ATB) is a fantasy league played using a computer simulation called, Diamond Mind Baseball. Owners draft any player-season in the history of the sport (within some playing time limitations) and then create lineups, rotations, and depth charts, and finally turn their managerial preferences loose on the game egine to simulate a full seasons worth of games. All results, box scores, and statistics are posted weekly to a centralized website.

You may recall my request for new owners a few weeks ago and our league had the good fortune to have several Razzball readers apply for ownership. With this in mind I thought a general update would hold some interest and while our draft is still going strong, round 20 of 30, we can pause and take a look back at the all important first round. There is no need to dissect all 20 picks and commentary will provided for the more interesting ones.

Please note that while similar to fantasy drafts, ATB requires a full 30 man squad with all positions filled (i.e., RF, CF, LF not 3 OF) plus defense counts. It isn’t only about which player had the best offensive statistics as all owners have to take into consideration offense, defense, and league context.

Pick #1 – Babe Ruth, 1921 – LF
.378 / .509 / .846, 59 HR, 177 R, 171 RBI, +4 NSB, 1.355 OPS, Av LF

Historically in ATB, Ruth is the common number one overall draft pick with the only question being the year chosen. Many point to Ruth’s 1927, sixty-home run season as his best, though most ATB’ers recognize that 1920 and 1921 were better seasons, and one can even make a case that 1923, 1926, and 1919 where superior when taking league and park context.

Ruth 1921 was the choice for this draft and it was of course a monster. One item to note however, is that he played in the Polo Grounds in a year that inflated HR totals for lefties by about 70% which is taken into consideration by the game engine. The right field line was just 256 feet away from home plate this year.

Pick #2 – Barry Bonds, 2002 – LF
.370 / .582 / .799, 49 HR, 117 R, 110 RBI, +7 NSB, 1.381 OPS, Av LF
It’s an interesting question – which of Bonds’ seasons is his best. This owner chose to foresake the moster 74 HR year of 2001 but was it the right choice? Let’s see how each season compared to the league average in their slash stats:

2001 2002 2004
AVG 27% 45% 39%
OBP 57% 77% 84%
SLG 114% 105% 100%

These figures depict how much better each is when compared to the league average player at the time. 2001 lags behind both 2002 and 2004, and the choice between the latter two are a matter of preference – what would you rather, a better batting average and slugging or a better on-base percentage?

Pick #3 – Mickey Mantle, 1956 – CF
.353 / .464 / .705, 52 HR, 132 R, 130 RBI, +9 NSB, 1.169 OPS, Vg CF
Mantle likely isn’t as good of an offensive player as Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, or perhaps even Jimmie Foxx, but his combination of high average, power, and Very Good defense is very hard to pass up. ATB is a league that considers many aspects of the game, and defense is key.

Pick #4 – Pedro Martinez, 2000 – SP
18-6, 1.74 ERA, 217 IP, 128 H, 32 BB, 284 K, 5.3 H/9, 11.8 K/9
Hands down, Martinez is easily the best pitcher in the 10 year history of ATB. Year in and year out he performs better than any pitcher, and some believe with two offensive studs in Bonds and Ruth, Pedro is the most unique player in the game and is a #1 overall pick. In 2000, his incredible 0.74 WHIP was 114% better than the league average; the next closest pitcher of all time relative to league average is Greg Maddux, whose figure is ‘only’ 70% better. Further, Martinez had an extremly high strikeout rate and the two combined make him unstoppable.

Pick #5 – Ted Williams, 1941 – LF
.406 / .549 / .735, 37 HR, 135 R, 120 RBI, -2 NSB, 1.284 OPS, Av LF

Pick #6 – Randy Johnson, 1999 – SP
17-9, 2.48 ERA, 271 IP, 207 H, 70 BB, 364 K, 6.9 H/9, 12.1 K/9
Johnson’s selection is our first potential owner error. It’s a matter of preference in roster construction as to which direction you want to go in – best batter, best pitcher, positional scarcity – but Johnson is historically not the second best pitcher in the game. Maddux is “1 B” to Martinez’s” 1 A” and while Johnson is a very good pitcher, his WHIP was 1.02, by no means of historical significance.

Pick #7 – Rogers Hornsby, 1924 – 2B
.424 / .503 / .696, 25 HR, 121 R, 94 RBI, -7 NSB, 1.199 OPS, Av 2B

Pick #8 – Greg Maddux, 1995
19-2, 1.63 ERA, 210 IP, 147 H, 23 BB, 181 K, 6.3 H/9, 7.8 K/9

Pick #9 – Addie Joss, 1904
14-10, 1.59 ERA, 192 IP, 160 H, 30 BB, 83 K, 7.5 H/9, 3.9 K/9
Joss is one of my all-time favorites, a deadball era pitcher that pitched in a ballpark that slightly favored batters in 1904. He didn’t strike out a lot of batters, a common theme during his era, but that doesn’t really matter if one keeps his ERA under 2.00, a feat Joss accomplished an incredible four times.

One quibble with this selection is in the choice of year. In 1908 Joss went 24-11 with a 1.16 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. This year, 1904, he went 14-10 with a 1.59 ERA. Either appear to be great however.

Pick #10 – Honus Wagner, 1908
.354 / .411 / .542, 10 HR, 100 R, 109 RBI, +32 NSB, .954 OPS, Ex SS
Is a batter who hits just 10 HR a stretch for the 10th pick overall? Not when it fills a need at the most scarce offensive position in the game, save catcher. Plus, Wagner is one of the few middle infielders awarded the best defensive rating available and it’s not as if he was weak with the stick.

Roughly speaking, his batting line in 1908 is equivalent to a current line of .385 / .450 / 750. Now imagine Ozzie Smith with this line and you have the Flying Dutchman.

Pick #11 – Jimmie Foxx, 1932
.364 / .466 / .749, 58 HR, 151 R, 169 RBI, -4 NSB, 1.215 OPS, Vg 1B
I am not a fan of counting stats when evaluating players, but my goodness – 58 HR, 151 R, 169 RBI all with Very Good defense .

Pick #12 – Willie McCovey, 1969
.320 / .453 / .656, 45 HR, 101 R, 126 RBI, 0 NSB, 1.108 OPS, Av1B
McCovey is not good enough for the 12th overall pick, but there’s a reason he was selected here. An owner dropped out of the league the day of the draft and didn’t let the commissioner know. We scrambled to find another owner, and did, but he didn’t get a chance to make his first round selection until well into the second round.

The laugh’s on us though, in pre-season exhibition play McCovey’s ‘regular season pace’ was 76 HR and 173 RBI. He’s since been traded to another division.

Pick #13 – Lou Gehrig, 1927
.373 / .471 / .765, 47 HR, 149 R, 175 RBI, +2 NSB, 1.236 OPS, Av1B
Only three players in history have slugged as high as Gehrig, and him dropping outside the Top-10 makes the Yankee first basement a steal. Further, his ATB track record is extremely good making him a low risk pick as well.

Pick # 14 – Ty Cobb, 1909
.377 / .427 / .517, 9 HR, 116 R, 107 RBI, +34 NSB, .944 OPS, VgCF

Pick # 15 – Arky Vaughan, 1935
.385 / .488 / .607, 19 HR, 108 R, 99 RBI, +2 NSB, 1.095 OPS, VgSS

Pick #16 – Walter Johnson, 1913
36-7, 1.14 ERA, 346 IP, 232 H, 38 BB, 243 K, 6.0 H/9, 6.3 K/9
The “Big Train” was awesome in 1913, and he is widely regarded as one of the Top-5 pitchers of all time, many believe he’s the best ever.

Pick #17 – Tip O’Neil, 1887
.435 / .494 / .691, 14 HR, 167 R, 123 RBI, +15 NSB, 1.185 OPS, AvLF
A relative unknown, Tip O’Neill was a star in the American Association during the mid to late 1880s. His batting average is the second best single season mark of all time. While displaying little power, O’Neill is an ideal #2 hitter in a potent lineup, and a #3 batter in a moderate one.

Pick #18 – Christy Mathewson, 1905
31-9, 1.28 ERA, 339 IP, 252 IP, 64 BB, 206 K, 6.7 H/9, 5.5 K/9

Pick #19 – Joe DiMaggio, 1939
.381 / .444 / .671, 30 HR, 108 R, 126 RBI, +17 NSB, 1.115 OPS, ExCF

Pick #20 – Tommy Bond, 1876
31-13, 1.67 ERA, 408 IP, 355 H, 13 BB, 88 K, 7.8 H/9, 1.9 K/9
The last pitcher taken in the first round of the 10th ATB draft is the first “deadball era” hurler we’ve seen. Bond was a work-horse, pitching in over 400 innings and starting 65% of his team’s games. As a testament to the times, be assured his 13 BB in so many innings is not a typo. Bond also has three seasons of 500+ innings to his credit and in 1878 started 59 of 60 games for his Boston Red Caps.

Long before the fantasy era began, baseball enthusiasts created tabletop games such as Strat-O-Matic and APBA (American Professional Baseball Association). Most of these games are simulated through the use of playing cards, with each athlete assigned a unique card that stores attributes about the players skills. Owners for the offense and defense each roll dice, consult the cards, and whallah, events are created in the form singles, doubles, triples, homers, etc. Multiple events are strung together to form a 9 inning game.
Fans still play these games the old fashioned way, but many have gravitated toward the advanced gaming possibilities that computers offers. Diamond Mind Baseball is one of the most sophisticated baseball simulations on the market today and a league I run, called All Time Baseball, is looking for a few new owners.

From a virtually unlimited player pool starting in the 1800’s through today,the premise of ATB is to draft the best 30-man sqaud and general manage your team through the regular season and playoffs. See how Ty Cobb fairs against Pedro Martinez, or Walter Johnson vs. Albert Pujols. The possibilities are unlimited. Last season Eric Gagne was named World Series MVP after saving 3 close games, getting through the heart of a lineup that featured Lou Gehrig, Norm Cash, Fred Lynn, and John McGraw.

There is a commitment required for the draft, as it is held over several weeks with selections made via a message board. Each owner is slotted a time to make their pick so you don’t have to spend all day waiting and watching fellow owners steal your picks. The regular season is played (simmed) in 15 game increments on a weekly basis after each owners is through setting lineups, making trades, and pick up free-agents.
One more item to note – the game is “manual” in the sense that lineups and trades all have to happen through the commissioner’s office. I don’t want to give a false impression that you can submit lineups online. However, the league does have a central website were all the results, box scores, and weekly write-ups are posted.
We’re coming into our 10th season and are looking for some new blood. Each year is a complete re-draft, so new owners are not stuck trying to right the ship of a failing franchise.

If you’re interested in “owning” a franchise, drop me a line at alltimebaseball @ yahoo.com. The league is a blast, and it’s free!

The Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame has spent an unhealthy amount of time identifying the best fantasy seasons, careers, statistics, All Stars, and Hall of Famers of the fantasy era. As mentioned ad nauseam, the fantasy era began in 1980, and thus many great players of the 1980’s fall just short of enshrinement since their careers commenced in 1979 or earlier. This, along with the fact it’s just plain fun, has led us down the path of looking back in time, decade by decade, for the best fantasy players. We’ll be following a logical, reverse chronological order, starting with the 1970s.

“Stars of the 1970’s Who Missed FBHOF Enshrinement Due to 1979 Cutoff”

The 1970s provided fans a different brand of baseball than we’re accustomed too today. In the early part of the decade, the frequency of the stolen base was below what we even see today, but by the latter portion of the decade, stealing increased dramatically and kicked off the a mini-era where were the steal valued highly. This eventually led to the famous 1980’s St. Louis Cardinal teams that stole seemingly at will. In 1985 Willie McGee, Terry Pendleton, Ozzie Smith, Andy Van Slyke each stole at least 30 and Vince Coleman reached 110.

On the other hand, there were relatively more home runs hit in the 1970s than the 1980s. As an example, players hit 40 or more home runs 20 times in the 1970s vs. just 13 in the 1980’s (the 1990s had 72, but that is beside the point). Contrarily, batting averages have risen steadily each decade, after the league average bottomed out at .244 in 1972.

This chart depicts what was just mentioned – the Major League Batting average year by year, as well as the frequency in HR’s and SB’s in the form of “per at bat’ stats:

Let’s take a moment to ground us on the scoring tiers we saw during the Fantasy Era.

• 90+ Points: Only two players have ever amassed 90 or more FBHOF points: Randy Johnson and Barry Bonds
• 80-89 Points: 7 Players are in this grouping, think Roger Clemens
• 70-79 Points: 15 players score in this bucket, the most common. Think of them as the average FBHOF’er – Ryne Sandberg, Jeff Bagwell, and Curt Schilling types.
• 65-69 Points: 12 Players. The low-enders such as Don Mattingly and Jose Canseco
• 52-64 Points: Only pitchers can score as low as 52 and get elected, David Cone is a great example

70 Pointers
78.8 – Jim Rice, OF
73.7 – George Brett, 3B
70.8 – George Foster, OF

Rice is close to being an inner circle, elite FBHOF’er. He finished first among batters in 1978 and 1979, and finished in the Top-5 in 1977 and 1983. He was a monster at the plate reaching 39 or more home runs 4 times and 125+ RBI three times. He also hit for average, topping out at .325 in 1979. His 1978 season is the 3rd best we’ve seen tod date, a wonderful 18.5 point juggernaut campaign. He batted .315 with 121 R, 46 HR, 139 RBI, and 7 SB. He also has a total of seven 11+ FBHOF point seasons, which is tied for 10th all time.

With an excellent 3-year peak of 14 FBHOF points, Brett was an easy choice for ‘induction’. His average line during these three years was .347, 105 R, 26 HR, 112 RBI, 14 SB – great numbers for a third basemen of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. He is however, not nearly as good as Rice was at his peak. Brett does have an incredible twenty fantasy worthy seasons in is career, 4th best from 1970 or later.

Best known for his 1977 season of 52 HR and 149 RBI, Foster also put up great numbers in 1976, 1978, and 1981 giving him a 4 year peak score of 14.7. His 5th year is lacking considerably though, and greatly diminishes his overall FBHOF score. Foster was great three times and better than average three more times.

60 Pointers
69.5 – Nolan Ryan
69.2 – Dave Winfield
68.4 – Cecil Cooper
67.8 – Dwight Evans
67.7 – Reggie Jackson

The Ryan Express ranks as the 8th best starting pitcher in the last 40-odd years. This is likely better than most would rate him for non-fantasy purposes, but Ryan had ten 8+ FBHOF point seasons – 10th best among all players, and 4th best among pitchers. Year in and year out his strike out totals were off the charts, which off-set some of the seasons his WHIP or Win totals were only ordinary. He never had a monster fantasy season, his value was in consistency: 20 seasons of double digit wins; 8 seasons of 15+ wins; 12 seasons with WHP’s better than 1.25; 8 seasons with sub-3.00 ERA’s; and 6 seasons of 300+ strikeouts. He finished as a Top-10 pitcher ten times, but never rated best in any single season

Winfield is much like Evans, but with a longer peak as evidenced by putting their career scores side by side – Winfield kept it up a while longer.

Reggie Jackson is someone we need to spend some time on. Jackson was one of baseball’s premier sluggers, belting 25 or more thirteen times. He was also a solid RBI man, averaging 103 per season during his 5 year peak. What too many people forget was his speed. Mr. October averaged 20 steals a season for the first 8 years of his career, topping out at 28 in 1976. Because of this, his best two fantasy seasons came prior to his famous 41 HR year of 1980:

1973: .293 with 99 R, 32 HR, 117 RBI, 22 SB
1974: .289 with 90 R, 29 HR, 93 RBI, 24

While never the best fantasy player in a given year, he does have four Top-10 finishes among batters, and five Top-5 appearances among outfielders.

Cooper has already gotten quite a bit of press for a non-Hall of Famer, and deservedly so.

50 Pointers
57.8 – Bert Blyleven
56.2 – Ron Guidry
56.1 – Don Sutton

Each were very good though none reached the dominance of Nolan Ryan. Blyleven has five Top-10 finishes to his credit; Guidry four; and Sutton six. Only Guidry reached #1 pitcher status after winning 25 with a 0.95 WHIP, 1.74 ERA, and 248 K’s in 1978. His 18.0 FBHOF Points ranks 6th best to date.

“Other FBHOF Worthy Players”
Fourteen other players would be in the FBHOF had the 1970’s counted. This group wasn’t at the top of their games during any extended portion of the 1980s, and it’s easier to justify their exclusion. However, there are some truly great ones from the 1970s, beginning with Joe Morgan.

Morgan’s 88.1 FBHOF Score is 4th best all time, and his peak score of 80.1 is 3rd best. He was an incredible second basemen hit for average, power, and had great speed. He nabbed the Top-2B award every year from 1971 to 1977, also finished 1st among all batters three times in 1972, and 1975-1976. His peak year was 1976 where he amassed 18.4 FBHOF points, 4th best we’ve seen. He batted .320 with 113 R, 27 HR, 111 RBI, and 60 SB. His 5-year peak average is wonderful: .303, 113 R, 22 HR, 85 RBI, and 62 SB, all from a second basemen.

To put his greatness into perspective, here are his scores during his 7-year run as the best second basemen in comparison to the next best. Not only was Morgan great, he was in a class all to himself.:

Tom Seaver rates as the 6th best fantasy pitcher ever. He was the #1 starter three times and in the Top-10 nine times. Seaver never reached 300 strikeouts as some of his predecessors (such as Steve Carlton and Sandy Koufax) but he was remarkably consistent and first-rate in his rate stats: a sub-3.00 ERA nine times and a sub-1.15 WHIP eight times. And it’s not as if he couldn’t strike people out – he struck out more than 7 _ batters per inning nine times and averaged 252 per season during his 5-year peak.

Here are the rest of the 1970’s players who racked up enough points to be FBHOF worthy:

Lastly, there are two other current FBHOF’ers that saw their final scores rocket into elite stratosphere once the 1970’s counted. Mike Schmidt ended his career with an official tally of 70.5 FBHOF points, good, but nowhere need great. Three monster seasons were omitted from his record though:

These three seasons raised his final FBHOF score from 70.5 to 83.8.

Steve Carlton is in a similar situation. At the tail end of his career, the left-hander pieced together a few good seasons to sneak is as a FBHOF’er. Taking his career in total though, he’s a shoe-in, and one of just four pitchers to record two seasons of 17+ FBHOF points. The season left off his Fantasy record? His best ever, in 1972: 27 W, 0.99 WHIP, 1.97 ERA, 310 K.

The FBHOF will have more on the 1970s in coming weeks.

The Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame in conjunction with Razzball.com, are electing the All-Star teams of the Fantasy Era. For every season from 1980 to today full 23 man rosters will be created and analyzed. We end the series today by looking at the 2004 through 2007 All Stars.

Year: 2004
First Time All Stars: 7 – Bobby Abreu, Adrian Beltre, Brad Lidge, Mark Loretta, Johan Santana, Ben Sheets, Michael Young
3 Time All Stars: 8 – Carlos Beltran, Eric Gagne, Vladimir Guerrero, Javy Lopez, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Mariano Rivera, Ichiro Suzuki
5 Time All Stars: 3 – Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Curt Schilling
10 Time All Stars: 3 – Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson
Future FBHOF’ers: 9 – Bonds, Clemens, Guerrero, Johnson, Pujols, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Santana, Schilling
Snubs: 4 – Melvin Mora (11.0), Todd Helton (10.6), Scott Rolen (10.5), Gary Sheffield (10.5)
16 Pt Season: 2 –Johnson (16.1), Santana (16.0)

This was a solid team whose success is built around one of the better pitching staffs that we’ve seen. The starting rotation is ranked 4th behind two wonderful seasons from Randy Johnson and Johan Santana, they each scored over 16 FBHOF points:

The rest of the staff each scored over 10 points each, with Ben Sheets being the best of the rest. While his win total was low at 12, his rate stats and strikeouts were excellent.

The relievers were vital as well. Brad Lidge, Eric Gagne, and Mariano Rivera struck out 337 batters between them and combined for an ERA of 2.01 and a WHIP of 0.97.

Offensively, the 2004 team is well below average, especially in the infield. Mark Loretta makes the team with FBHOF score well below respectability for All Star’s; his 8.9 value is the lowest mark since 1981 for a non-catcher.

After 14 all star appearances, this was Barry Bonds’ last team. He was very good again in 2004, drilling 45 HR and batting .362. Fellow legends Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling enjoyed their last great seasons along side him. Also worth mentioning are several other very good players who would never again make an All-Star team: Eric Gagne, Javy Lopez, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Schmidt, and Miguel Tejada

On the other hand Michael Young and more importantly, Johan Santana, made their first All Star teams.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 19th
IF: 24th
OF: 18th
SP: 4th
RP: 6th
Overall: 10th

Year: 2005
First Time All Stars: 10 – Jason Bay, Miguel Cabrera, Chris Carpenter, Chone Figgins, Derrek Lee, Victor Martinez, Joe Nathan, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Dontrelle Willis
3 Time All Stars: 5 – Manny Ramirez, Mariano Rivera, Gary Sheffield, Alfonso Soriano, Billy Wagner
5 Time All Stars: 4 – Vladimir Guerrero, Pedro Martinez, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez
10 Time All Stars: 2 –
Future FBHOF’ers: 1 – Roger Clemens
Snubs: 4 – Mark Teixeira (13.2), Carl Crawford (10.7), Andruw Jones (10.7), Bobby Abreu (10.5)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Alex Rodriguez (17.1)

The only good thing about the 2005 team was its infield. Every other position was ranked 17th or worse, but Albert Pujols, Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Young, Derrek Lee, and Chone Figgins made up the highest scoring infield ever. Rodriguez, Pujols, and Lee averaged 45 home runs between them; Soriano went 30/30; Young batted .331; and Figgins stole 62 bases.

The outfield was particularly poor with a last place ranking. The names were fundamentally sound – Bay, Miguel Cabrera, Vlad, Manny, and Sheff but none had a stellar season, as only Ramirez reached the 13 point plateau.

Pitching was decent by current 2008 standards but gone were the days of the high 200 or 300 strikeout pitchers, and so gone were the days of 15 or more pitching point seasons.

Also of note was the snub of Mark Teixeira. He hit 43 HR and drove in 144 runners but couldn’t crack into the starting lineup.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 25th
IF: 1st
OF: 28th
SP: 17th
RP: 17th
Overall: 18th

Year: 2006
First Time All Stars: 12 – Bronson Arroyo, Garrett Atkins, Jermaine Dye, Matt Holliday, Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, JJ Putz, Jose Reyes, Takashi Saito, Chase Utley, Brandon Webb
3 Time All Stars: 4 – Carlos Beltran, Derek Jeter, Johan Santana, Alfonso Soriano
5 Time All Stars: 2 – Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols
10 Time All Stars: 1 –
Future FBHOF’ers: 2 – Guerrero, Pujols, Santana, John Smoltz
Snubs: 2 – Miguel Cabrera (11.4), Carlos Lee (11.3)
16 Pt Season: 1 – None

Unfortunately, the 2006 squad was very similar to the previous year’s version. Infielders were still the highest rated, but they dropped 9 slots in the standings as nobody picked up the slack of Alex Rodriguez and his 17.1 points in ’05.

The rest of the positions were about the same which results in an overall ranking of just 25th. When looking at the ’05 through ’07 period, an incredible total of 36 players made their all-star debuts.

Major League baseball was in the midst of a changing of the guard, from the all time fantasy greats of Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson (and more) over to the new age crew of Chase Utley, Matt Holliday, Ryan Howard, Johan Santana and in 2007 Hanley Ramirez and David Wright. Time will tell if the youngsters will eventually create a new golden age of fantasy baseball. If 2008 is any indication, they likely will.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 20th
IF: 10th
OF: 27th
SP: 26th
RP: 11th
Overall: 25th

Year: 2007
First Time All Stars: 12 – Josh Beckett, Eric Byrnes, Prince Fielder, John Lackey, Carlos Lee, Russell Martin, Jake Peavy, Brandon Phillips, Hanley Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins, CC Sabathia, David Wright
3 Time All Stars: 4 – Joe Nathan, David Ortiz, Johan Santana, Ichiro Suzuki
5 Time All Stars: None
10 Time All Stars: 1 – Alex Rodriguez
Future FBHOF’ers: 2 – Rodriguez, Santana
Snubs: 1 – Chase Utley (10.1)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Alex Rodriguez (18.1)

I wasn’t planning a write-up on 2007 since it’s still considered a current event, but we should note the incredible season of Alex Rodriguez. There have been twenty four 50+ HR seasons during the fantasy era. Rodriguez is:

- One of six to bat .315 or better
- One of three accumulate 150 or more RBI
- One of two to score 140 or more runs
- The only person to get to 24 stolen bases.

It might be the most complete season by a player ever, fantasy or not.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 11th
IF: 4th
OF: 25th
SP: 12th
RP: 12th
Overall: 13th

The Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame in conjunction with Razzball.com, are electing the All-Star teams of the Fantasy Era. For every season from 1980 to today full 23 man rosters will be created and analyzed. In the second installment the 2001 through 2003 seasons are identified.

Year: 2001
First Time All Stars: 8 – Bret Boone, Keith Foulke, Freddy Garcia, Luis Gonzalez, Paul Lo Duca, Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki, Javier Vazquez
3 Time All Stars: 3 – Robb Nen, Curt Schilling, Larry Walker
5 Time All Stars: 6 – Roberto Alomar, Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Mike Piazza, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa
10 Time All Stars: 2 – Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux
Future FBHOF’ers: 14 – Alomar, Bonds, Todd Helton, Johnson, Jones, Maddux, Piazza, Pujols, Rodriguez, Schilling, Sosa, Walker
Snubs: 2 – Vladimir Guerrero (11.6), Bobby Abreu (11.0)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Johnson (17.9)

2001 was the last hurrah for the fantasy all-stars. During the 1980’s no team reached the level of 10 Fantasy Baseball Hall of Famers on its roster. In the early 1990’s, the number FBHOF’ers per team rose steadily until maxing out at 14 in 1997 and 1998, and maintained this approximate level for the next three years. Now, in 2001, we find it’s the last team to take the field with double digit home FBHOF’ers.

Several all time greats made their last All-Star appearance: Roberto Alomar, Kevin Brown, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, and Larry Walker had their last great season and only the addition of Albert Pujols helped off-set their losses.

This isn’t to say 2001 wasn’t a good team as both the infield and outfield were Top-10 material. Going around the diamond Todd Helton, Bret Boone, Alomar, Alex Rodriguez, Jones and Pujols averaged an astounding .330 with 120 R, 39 HR, and 126 RBI. The outfield was even better: .330 AVG, 126 R, 48 HR, 126 RBI, and 17 SB. The best of the lot was Sammy Sosa who batted .328, hit 64 HR, and drove in 160 RBI.

Randy Johnson, with 17.9 FBHOF points, made up for what was otherwise a mediocre starting rotation. He won 21 games and struck out 372 batters, the third highest mark since the beginning of the 20th century.

In a famous 7 game set, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series. Gonzalez, Johnson, and Schilling represented the victors. Mike Mussina and Mariano Rivera the losers.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 21st
IF: 6th
OF: 7th
SP: 16th
RP: 25th
Overall: 16th

Year: 2002
First Time All Stars: 14 – Carlos Beltran, Lance Berkman, Eric Gagne, Jason Giambi, Byung-Hyun Kim, Billy Koch, Derek Lowe, Magglio Ordonez, Roy Oswalt, Jorge Posada, Alfonso Soriano, Miguel Tejada, Jim Thome, and Barry Zito
3 Time All Stars: 1 – Vladimir Guerrero
5 Time All Stars: 4 – Pedro Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa
10 Time All Stars: 1 – Barry Bonds
Future FBHOF’ers: 9 – Bonds, Guerrero, Johnson, Martinez, Piazza, Albert Pujols, Rodriguez, Schilling, Sosa
Snubs: 2 – Jeff Kent (11.0), Shawn Green (10.7)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Johnson (18.1)

No stars, no problem.

14 first time All-Stars make up a large portion of the 2002 squad, yet this team was among the best of the fantasy era, ranking 6th overall. The key for was their formidable starting rotation, led by another great season from Randy Johnson. He owns the best consecutive two year score all time, compiling 36 FBHOF points in 2001 ad 2002. Fellow starters Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez were excellent as well, combining for 43 W, 555 K, 0.96 WHIP, and a 2.81 ERA.

For the second year in row, the infield was superb. Jason Giambi was near his peak, hitting 41 HR and driving in 122; Albert Pujols batted .314 and drove in 122; Rodriguez enjoyed his 57 HR, 142 RBI year; Miguel Tejada had 131 RBI and 34 HR; and Jim Thome hit 52 out of the park.

Saying goodbye were Mike Piazza and Sammy Sosa. In 2002 the Anaheim Angels edged out the San Francisco Giants 4 games to 3 in the World Series. Barry Bonds was the lone representative for the fantasy all-stars.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 26th
IF: 5th
OF: 17th
SP: 3rd
RP: 16th
Overall: 6th

Year: 2003
First Time All Stars: 9 – Carlos Delgado, Roy Halladay, Tim Hudson, Esteban Loaiza, Javy Lopez, Mark Prior, Scott Rolen, Jason Schmidt, Vernon Wells
3 Time All Stars: 2 – Todd Helton, Albert Pujols
5 Time All Stars: 2 – Pedro Martinez, Alex Rodriguez
10 Time All Stars: 1 – Barry Bonds
Future FBHOF’ers: 13 – Bonds, Helton, Martinez, Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield
Snubs: 2 – Nomar Garciaparra (11.5), Edgar Renteria (11.4)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Pujols (17.2)

This was a solid year, with all positions with the exception of starting pitcher, solidly above average. The most impressive aspect of the 2003 team was the relief corps, which ranked 5th. This is the best ranking given to closers since the days of 120 inning seasons from the early 1980’s.

Eric Gagne led all relievers with 9.1 FBHOF points, the highest mark of what we’ll call the modern closing era. He was unhittable posting a 0.69 WHIP and 1.20 ERA in 82 innings. He also struck out 137 and saved 55 games. Joining him in the pen is Keith Foulke (0.89 WHIP, 2.09 ERA, 43 Sv) and Billy Wagner (0.87 WHIP, 1.78 ERA, 44 K). Foulke dazzled fantasy owners with 9 wins as well.

Albert Pujols was rated best on the team. It was his finest fantasy season as he raised his batting average to .359 while maintaining his usual run production numbers, in this case 137 R, 43 HR, and 124 RBI. Gary Sheffield gets little credit when compared to his contemporaries, but he could mash. His .330 AVG with 126 R, 39 HR, 132 RBI, and 18 SB added up to 15.9 FBHOF points, second most on the team.

Also of note was Javy Lopez and his 43 HR and 109 RBI out of the catcher position. It was the 6th best single season for a catcher. Mark Prior teased us all with his only great season – 18 W, 1.10 WHIP, 2.43 ERA, and 245 K.

The Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees in six games. Florida had no fantasy All Stars; the Yanks had one, Alfonso Soriano.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 10th
IF: 13th
OF: 10th
SP: 19th
RP: 5th
Overall: 8th