Fantasy Baseball Advice

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. In the second installment the 2001 through 2003 seasons are identified.

Here is a table to keep track of the complete All-Star rosters.

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

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 1998 through 2000 seasons are identified.

Here is a table to keep track of the complete All-Star rosters.

Year: 1998
First Time All Stars: 4 – Vinny Castilla, Derek Jeter, Tom Gordon, Jason Kendall
3 Time All Stars: 4 – Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Curt Schilling
5 Time All Stars: 8 – Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 14 –Belle, Biggio, Bonds, Kevin Brown, Clemens, Griffey, Johnson, Jones, Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Piazza, Rodriguez, Schilling, Sammy Sosa
Snubs: 2 – Jeff Bagwell (11.1), Vladimir Guerrero (11.0)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Sosa (16.7)

Last week we saw how the 1997 squad ranked best overall among the 28 all star teams. While this is true in a statistical sense, many fans will likely look towards the 1998 team as the one to beat. Their team average FBHOF score is different only by the smallest percentage points – 12.08 vs. 12.07 – and frankly, this means there is no difference as I do not pretend that the math behind the FBHOF scoring system is reliable up to the hundredth decimal point.

Further, and more telling, the starting rotation is entirely made up of Fantasy Baseball Hall of Famers, 5 of 6 of which are likely headed to Cooperstown as well. Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, and Curt Schilling are joined by Kevin Brown, an excellent pitcher in his own right.

On offense, many names remain the same: Craig Biggio, Barry Bonds, Nomar Garciaparra, Ken Griffey Jr, Chipper Jones, Mike Piazza, and Alex Rodriguez make back to back All Star appearances. But there were a couple of upgrades, in name at least, too. Mark McGwire replaces Andres Galarraga, Albert Belle ditched Tony Gwynn, Juan Gonzalez instead of Raul Mondesi plus Sammy Sosa had his career year in 1998. For the first time ever all batters and staring pitchers reached 10 or more FBHOF points. This team had no weaknesses.

The ‘for fun’ fact that brings it all home? FBHOF’er Jeff Bagwell and Vlad Guerrero weren’t good enough to make this team; in 1997 the snubs were Tino Martinez and Vinny Castilla. There is no comparison.

The World Series featured the 114 Win New York Yankees, represented only by Derek Jeter. They defeated the San Diego Padres 4 games to none. Kevin Brown, the fantasy pitcher of the year, was their #1 starter.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 4th
IF: 3rd
OF: 14th
SP: 5th
RP: 15th
Overall: 2nd

Year: 1999
First Time All Stars: 9 – Shawn Green, Vladimir Guerrero, Mike Hampton, Jose Lima, Kevin Milwood, Manny Ramirez, Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner, Scott Williamson
3 Time All Stars: 9 – Roberto Alomar, Jeff Bagwell, Kevin Brown, Nomar Garciaparra, Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez, Mark McGwire, Ivan Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa
5 Time All Stars: 3 – Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, Mike Piazza
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 9 –Alomar, Bagwell, Brown, Griffey, Guerrero, Johnson, Jones, Martinez, Piazza, Ramirez
Snubs: 2 – Rafael Palmeiro (11.3), Juan Gonzalez (11.0)
16 Pt Season: 2 – Martinez (18.1), Johnson (17.8)

This year’s version of Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson make up fantasy baseball’s historical best 1-2 punch. Martinez was technically awesome. Only five pitchers in the fantasy era have maintained a WHIP of 0.92 over the course of 200 or more innings, and despite starting just 29 games, he laid claim to 23 wins. On the other hand, Johnson was a workhorse. His WHIP was a full .10 higher and his ERA 0.40 higher, but Johnson was only 3-tenths of a FBHOF point behind Martinez for the #1 ranking of the year. Why? Innings pitched.

Above you can see that Martinez outperformed his NL counterpart in these critical rate statistics, especially in strikeout to walk ratio.  Johnson’s numbers were great in their own right, but no one could conclude that he was the ‘better’ of the two.  However, Johnson made 6 more starts than Martinez and lasted a shade deeper into each.  The question becomes would a fantasy owner rather, for instance, a 2.07 ERA in 213 IP or a 2.48 ERA in 271 innings?

Simple math.  Assume a standard fantasy rotation of 6 starters and 3 relievers, and pretend they each maintained an exact league average ERA of 4.37.  Replace a starter with Martinez and compute the new team ERA.  Then swap out Martinez for Johnson and compute his impact to the team.  Answer – the impacts are exactly the same:

4.022488 - Team ERA w/Martinez
4.022957 – Team ERA w/Johnson

Moral of the story?  Innings pitched matters.  A great deal.

Kevin Millwood and Kevin Brown were very good 3rd and 4th starters but Mike Hampton and Jose Lima (! – 21 W, 1.22 WHIP, 3.58 ERA) were worse than average for All Stars.

On offense, Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez combined to make the best All Star catching tandem in history:  .320 AVG, 216 R, 75 HR, 237 RBI, and 27 SB between them.

Elsewhere, Barry Bonds played in just 102 games (batting .262 in the process) and misses an All-Star nod for the first time since 1989. He would go on to be elected each year from 2000 to 2004, giving him 14 appearances in a 15 year stretch.  Recurring All-Stars Albert Belle, Craig Biggio, Nomar Garciaparra, Ken Griffey Jr, and Mark McGwire made their last team in 1999; Roberto Alomar, Shawn Green, Vlad Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, and Billy Wagner made their first.

In the World Series the New York Yankees won their 3rd title in 4 years, pounding the Atlanta Braves 4-0.  Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera represented the AL Champions while Chipper Jones and Millwood stood for the NL victors.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 1st
IF: 9th
OF: 20th
SP: 2nd
RP: 14th
Overall: 3rd

Year: 2000
First Time All Stars: 6 – Armando Benitez, Johnny Damon, Darin Erstad, Todd Helton, Richard Hidalgo, Jeff Kent.
3 Time All Stars: 7 –Roberto Alomar, Jeff Bagwell, Kevin Brown, Pedro Martinez, Robb Nen, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa
5 Time All Stars: 5 – Trevor Hoffman, Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza
10 Time All Stars: 1 - Barry Bonds
Future FBHOF’ers: 13 – Alomar, Bagwell, Bonds, Brown, Vladimir Guerrero, Helton, Johnson, Jones, Maddux, Martinez, Piazza, Rodriguez, Sosa
Snubs: Troy Glaus (11.6), Andruw Jones (11.1), Frank Thomas (11.1)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Pedro Martinez (18.2)

The freak rosters made up of abnormal amounts of All Time fantasy greats continued in 2000, though the quality of seasons diminished. Dropping 14 slots, the first team of the new century is ranked just 15th, mostly due to an outfield crew that was in the bottom third in All Star history. Darin Erstad, Johnny Damon, and Richard Hidalgo had very good seasons but not even they would argue they were equal to those they replaced: Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr, and Larry Walker.

Starting pitching continued to be great and 2000 was the 4th consecutive season where the position was in the Top 6. Pedro Martinez became the first player in fantasy history to have back to back 18+ FBHOF point seasons. Take you pick as to which is better:

1999 – 213 IP, 23 W, 0.92 WHIP, 2.07 ERA, 313 K
2000 – 217 IP, 18 W, 0.74 WHIP, 1.74 ERA, 284 K

The first subway series in 44 years transpired in October, with the Yankees winning 4 games to 1. Flushing featured Mike Piazza and Armando Benitez as All Stars while the Bronx Bombers countered with, well no one, not even a snub.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 9th
IF: 11th
OF: 22nd
SP: 6th
RP: 24th
Overall: 15th

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 1995 through 1997 seasons are identified.

Here is a table to keep track of the complete All-Star rosters.

Year: 1995
First Time All Stars: 11 – Edgar Martinez, Jose Mesa, Mike Mussina, Hideo Nomo, Tim Salmon, Pete Schourek, Sammy Sosa, Mike Stanley, Jon Valentin, Mo Vaughn, Mark Wohlers
5 Time All Stars: 4 - Barry Bonds, David Cone, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 9 – Albert Belle, Craig Biggio, Bonds, Cone, Randy Johnson, Maddux, Mike Piazza, Sosa, Thomas,
Snubs: 2 – Chuck Knoblauch (11.9), Reggie Sanders (11.7)
16 Pt Season: 1 – Maddux (17.3)

1995 was the calm before the storm. This team was ranked 14th overall and the All-Stars would soon head into a stretch of four consecutive Top 10 teams, finishing with the best three of all time.

With the exception of relief pitching, all other positions were ranked between 8th and 16th making the team about average in total. For every Mike Piazza (12.6 FBHOF points) there seemed to be a Mike Stanley (5.9 FBHOF points) to counterbalance the team more towards mediocrity. Greg Maddux had an incredible year (17 FBHOF Points, 19 W, 0.81 WHIP, 1.63 ERA) but his All-Star teammate David Cone managed just 9.2 FBHOF points.

One important aspect of 1995 stands out though. Not only was Maddux great, but for the first time in the fantasy era there were two 16 point pitchers in the same year. Joining Maddux is #2 starter Randy Johnson who tossed 214 innings with a 1.05 WHIP and 2.48 ERA, winning 18 and striking out 294.

On offense, Albert Belle and Dante Bichette led the way with 15+ FBHOF point seasons and hitting 90 HR and 254 RBI combined.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 16th
IF: 12th
OF: 11th
SP: 8th
RP: 27th
Overall: 14th

Year: 1996
First Time All Stars: 11 – Kevin Kevin Brown, Ellis Burks, Ken Caminiti, Jeff Fassero, Pat Hentgen, Chipper Jones, Chuck Knoblauch, Robb Nen, Alex Rodriguez, Mel Rojas, John Smoltz
3 Time All Stars: 4 – Albert Belle, Dante Bichette, Ken Griffey Jr, Mike Piazza
5 Time All Stars: 2 – Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 9 – Belle, Bonds, Brown, Griffey Jr, Jones, Maddux, Piazza, Rodriguez, Smoltz
Snubs: 3 – Brady Anderson (11.7), Gary Sheffield (11.6), Frank Thomas (11.5)
16 Pt Season: 2 – John Smoltz (16.8), Ellis Burks (16.2)

Due to the strength of their potent offense, the 1996 All Stars rank 7th overall. The infield was very good (7th) with only the 2nd catcher Ivan Rodriguez failing to score 10 FBHOF points. First Basemen Andres Galarraga hit 47 HR and drove in 150; Second Basemen Chuck Knoblauch batted .341 with 140 R; Third Basemen Ken Caminiti hit 40 HR; and future FBHOF’er Alex Rodriguez made his first All-Star appearance batting .358 with 141 R, 36 HR, 123 RBI, and 15 SB as the starting shortstop. Other FBHOF’ers making their first all star appearances were Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, and Kevin Brown.

Smoltz was the best player on the team with 16.8 FBHOF points after putting up career highs in Wins, WHIP, ERA, and strikeouts. Ellis Burks’ season was the best ever for a non Fantasy Baseball Hall of Famer, he went: .344 AVG, 142 R, 40 HR, 128 RBI, 32 SB for 16.2 FBHOF points.

The outfield, led by Burks, was stellar, finishing 5th overall. Barry Bonds had a 40/40 season and a .300 batting average; Albert Belle hit 48 HR and almost reached 150 RBI; Kenny Lofton stole 75 bases with 132 runs and a batting average well over .300; and Ken Griffey Jr. had one of his best years going 125 / 49 / 140.

Multiple time All Stars Bichette, Lofton, Hideo Nomo, Mo Vaughn made their last All Star appearances in 1996.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 12th
IF: 7th
OF: 5th
SP: 18th
RP: 18th
Overall: 7th

Year: 1997
First Time All Stars: 6 – Nomar Garciaparra, Darryl Kile, Pedro Martinez, Raul Mondesi, Jeff Shaw, Larry Walker
3 Time All Stars: 6 – Craig Biggio, Andres Galarraga, Ken Griffey Jr, Trevor Hoffman, Ivan Rodriguez, Randy Jonson
5 Time All Stars: 5 – Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Frank Thomas
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 14 – Jeff Bagwell, Biggio, Bonds, Clemens, Griffey, Johnson, Chipper Jones, Maddux, Martinez, Piazza, Alex RodriguezCurt Schilling, Thomas, Walker
Snubs: Vinny Castilla (11.2), Tino Martinez (10.2)
16 Pt Season: 2 – Larry Walker (19.4), Roger Clemens (16.2)

Never in the history of fantasy baseball has such a collection of talent been assembled. This team has it all:

.350+ AVG: Tony Gwynn, Mike Piazza, Larry Walker
50+ HR: Ken Griffey Jr
140+ R: Craig Biggio, Walker
140+ RBI: Andres Galarraga, Griffey
20+ W: Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson
Sub-1.00 WHIP: Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez
Sub-2.00 ERA: Martinez
300+ K: Curt Schilling, Martinez
40+ S: Jeff Shaw

The only missing attribute was a preeminent base stealer, though six players did have 25 or more, capped off by Biggio’s 47.

This team was also second to none in terms of elite seasons. A record five players recorded FBHOF scores of 15 or better:

The crown jewel of the ’97 All Stars is Walker, who amassed more FBHOF points in a single season than any other batter in fantasy history. Walker was good enough to lead the league in On Base percentage, Slugging Percentage, OPS, Total Bases, Home Runs, Runs Created, Extra Base Hits and several other Sabermetric minded stats like Offensive Winning Percentage and Adjusted Batting Runs. He was also Top-Three in Runs, Hits, Doubles, and RBI. It was an all around masterful season and I for one can’t wait to see how it stacks up against the greats of earlier decades (hint hint about future FBHOF developments).

Frank Thomas and Galarraga appeared on their last All Star roster and welcomed newcomers Nomar Garciaparra, Darryl Kile, Martinez, and Walker.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 2nd
IF: 14th
OF: 4th
SP: 1st
RP: 22nd
Overall: 1st

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 1992 through 1994 seasons are identified.

Here is a table to keep track of the complete All-Star rosters.

Year: 1992
First Time All Stars: 10 – Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Brady Anderson, Darren Daulton, Travis Fryman, Marquis Grissom, Doug Jones, Dennis Martinez, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield
3 Time All Stars: 6 - Barry Bonds, Joe Carter, David Cone, Dennis Eckersley, Greg Maddux, Mickey Tettleton, Kirby Puckett
5 Time All Stars: 3 - Roger Clemens, Paul Molitor, Ryne Sandberg
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 11 – Alomar, Bonds, Clemens, Cone, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas
Snubs: 2 – Terry Pendleton (11.4), Ray Lankford (11.2)
16 Pt Season: None

The finest All-Star teams were assembled in the late 1990’s, coinciding exactly with the period of off the charts offensive levels and thanks to the ability a handful of great pitchers who were able to maintain their own production levels despite this increase. While the early 1990’s featured some of the worst all star squads, several key greats made their first appearances in this timeframe. Roberto Alomar, Albert Belle, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, and Frank Thomas each made their first all star team between 1990-1993.

This wasn’t much of a help in 1992. In only a few rare cases in baseball history do players have their best season the first time they’re considered great, rather, they start good, become great, level off to good again and then retire. So while the 1992 team may be riddled with all-star names, they hadn’t quite reached superstar status yet. In fact, the 1992 team is the second worst on record.

Their two defining qualities were the catchers and relief corps – which happen to be the two least important aspects of any fantasy team. Darren Daulton and Mickey Tettleton were power hitting backstops, averaging 29 HR, 96 RBI, and 81 R between them. Daulton even threw in 11 stolen bases for good measure. The two were good enough to be ranked 2nd best among all star teams that didn’t feature Mike Piazza.

No closer had an ERA above 2.00 and Doug Jones, Dennis Eckersley, and Duane Ward combined to strike out nearly 300 batters.

The Toronto Blue Jays, led by fantasy All Stars Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, and Ward bested the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2 in the World Series.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 6th
IF: 26th
OF: 19th
SP: 28th
RP: 9th
Overall: 27th

Year: 1993
First Time All Stars: 11 - Kevin Appier, Rod Beck, Albert Belle, Juan Gonzalez, Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Jonson, Jeff Montgomery, Rafael Palmeiro, Mike Piazza, Billy Swift, John Wetteland
3 Time All Stars: 4 –Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Ron Gant, Frank Thomas
5 Time All Stars: 1 – Paul Molitor
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 9 – Roberto Alomar, Belle, Bonds, Griffey, Johnson, Maddux, Molitor, Piazza, Thomas
Snubs: Marquis Grissom (11.7), Lenny Dykstra (11.7)
16 Pt Season: Bonds (17.0)

After a long hiatus of ten consecutive well below average teams, the All-Stars of 1993 finally cracked the Top 15. This was not a great team, but after finishing 27th the year before, their 11th place finish was quite remarkable.

The key areas of improvement were in the outfield and starting pitcher positions. Barry Bonds was the best player in fantasy baseball, amassing 17.0 FBHOF points, the first exceptional fantasy season since 1988 when Jose Canseco recorded 18.3 points. Bonds combined power, speed, and a high average as only a select few have done before - .336 AVG, 129 R, 46 HR, 123 RBI, 29 SB. Joining him in the outfield were Ken Griffey Jr, Juan Gonzalez, Albert Belle, and Ron Gant who between them averaged 106 R, 41 HR, 118 RBI, and 18 SB.

While the outfield improved considerably, it was nothing compared to how much better the 1993 pitchers were over their predecessors. They rank 11th, a 17 slot improvement, due to the fact five pitchers scored 11 or more FBHOF Points. Compare this to 1992 when just 2 accomplished the feat. Fantasy Baseball Hall of Famer’s Greg Maddux (20 W, 2.36 ERA) and Randy Johnson (19 W, 308 K) led the charge with 14.5 and 13.9 FBHOF points respectively. While not great names, Jose Rijo, Kevin Appier, and Bill Swift all had great seasons with a combined average 18 W, 1.09 WHIP, 2.62 ERA.

FBHOF’er catcher Mike Piazza made his first in a string of ten consecutive All-Star appearances in 1993, beginning a stretch of greatness unparalleled in fantasy baseball. No player has dominated his position like Piazza. The only catcher elected to the FBHOF, Piazza has the best three year positional score in the history of fantasy baseball. The official FBHOF score is comprised of two data points – scoring against the peers at a player’s position, and a scoring against all players. Looking solely at the positional component:

Piazza ranks first in 3-year peak and second in 5 and 10 year peak scores.

The 1993 World Series featured the famous Joe Carter walk-off home run to lead the Blue Jays past the Phillies in 6 games.  Roberto Alomar and Paul Molitor represented Toronto, and Darren Daulton Philadelphia.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 14th
IF: 20th
OF: 13th
SP: 11th
RP: 7th
Overall: 11th

Year: 1994
First Time All Stars: 6 – Jeff Bagwell, Dante Bichette, Jeff Brantley, Trevor Hoffman, Kenny Lofton, Ivan Rodriguez
3 Time All Stars: 7 – Carlos Baerga, David Cone, Doug Drabek, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas, Bret Bret Saberhagen, Matt Williams
5 Time All Stars: 3 – Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken
10 Time All Stars: None
Future FBHOF’ers: 13 – Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Bonds, Albert Belle, Clemens, Cone, Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Jonson, Maddux, Mike Piazza, Saberhagen, Thomas, Ripken,
Snubs: Jose Canseco (11.3, 2nd Snub), Paul Molitor (11.2), Kirby Puckett (11.1, 2nd Snub)
16 Pt Season: Maddux (18.8), Bagwell (17.6)

Two aspects of the 1994 team stand out – no other season featured two players to reach 17+ FBHOF points, and this was one hell of an outfield. The outfielders collectively rank second, behind only the 1981 team which featured four players with 14 or more points. Three players reached 14 this year – Albert Belle (36 HR, .357 AVG, 101 RBI), Ken Griffey Jr (40 HR), and Barry Bonds (37 HR, 29 SB). Keeping in mind that nearly 30% of the season was lost due to the strike, these numbers are impressive.

The best offensive player of the season was Jeff Bagwell. He batted .368 with 104 R, 39 HR, 116 RBI, and 15 SB en route to 17.6 FBHOF points – 5th best all time and tops among first basemen. It was his first year as an all star and he would eventually be elected to three more All-Star squads.

The premier player of 1994, regardless of position, was Greg Maddux who turned in the best season in fantasy history, recording 18.8 points. Using funny math and adding back the missing 30% of the season due to the strike, we arrive at a line of 21 W, 0.90 WHIP, 1.56 ERA, and 203 K. Complete domination.

Unlike the great seasons of Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson that would soon be upon the fantasy community, Maddux was the only pitcher of his time to be 50% better than his closest competition. This is reflected in the FBHOF scoring system. The table below depicts the elite pitching seasons of the fantasy era along with the scoring of the next best pitcher of the year:

Maddux had no equals.  Later in the 1990s, it was a constant battle between Maddux, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martinez.  In 1994 Maddux stood alone atop the pitching community.

Several new All-Stars of 1994 would go on to have great careers: Ivan Rodriguez (6 ASP), Trevor Hoffman (5 ASP), Craig Biggio (4 ASP), and Dante Bichette (3 ASP).  Three 3-time all stars made their last appearance this year as well – Carlos Baerga, Doug Drabek, and Matt Williams.

In one of the biggest mistakes in baseball history, the 1994 World Series was cancelled due to labor strife.

Positional Ranking Among the 28 Teams
C: 15th
IF: 25th
OF: 2nd
SP: 10th
RP: 28th
Overall: 17th