Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Greatest Pitchers in Glavine 300 History


As we are a good 35 games into Season 7 it was time to reflect on who is the greatest pitcher in our league history.

I don't think anybody would argue who is No. 1 as Danny Cummings has won 131 games with a a career 2.10 ERA and five Cy Young awards, but who is No. 2 or 3 or 4?

It's like arguing who is the greatest quarterback in NFL history ... everybody has a different way they analyze the numbers or what is most important to them, and while this won't end any debates, this is one man's opinion based on a stastically formula.

The most important categories are listed below -- Wins, complete games, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, All-Star Games and Cy Youngs, each having a different weight.

Obviously winning awards and wins had the most weight of any category, while points were also awarded for WHIP and ERA -- the two most important stat-based number for pitchers. If your pitcher allows only 2 runs a game and only 1 baserunner per inning, every team in baseball would want that guy.

Complete games and strikeouts had the lowest point totals assigned to them. One can argue they are worthless, but if a pitcher can pitch an entire game, that's less need for a bullpen. Strikeouts keep the ball out of play of a crappy fielding team.

With a runner on third in a tie game with one out, would you want your pitching getting a strikeout or allowing a ball to go through the SS legs or a sac fly to get the run home? So Ks and CGs are taken into account, but by a very small amount (multiplied by .005, lowest of the categories).













Player (Age)W-LCGKsERAWHIPASC.Y.PTS
D. Cummings (32)131-30441,5992.101.016575.295
W. Stratton (32)100-51371,3212.801.114245.455
D. Hunter (35)111-52251,1792.311.013140.245
H. Hendrickson (33)107-61361,3433.781.285140.215
F. Matsui (32)94-4531,1402.831.072132.250
T. Cordero (27)89-4161,0973.151.154030.685
R. Hall (33)104-4108712.941.103028.755
E. Miller (27)75-2417612.961.124028.355
K. Service (35)101-5251,0263.371.173027.480
G. Bennett (34)99-59441,2033.671.282025.115


Wins were counted as a tenth of the total. Example -- Cummings 131 wins were 13.1 points. ERA = 6 pts for ERA between 2.00-2.25; 5 pts for ERA 2.26 = 2.50; 4 pts for 2.51-2.75; 3 pts for 2.76-3.00; 2 pts for 3.00-3.25; 1 pt for 3.26-3.50. 0 pts for anything above 3.51. WHIP = 3 pts for WHIP between 1.00-1.09; 2 pts for 1.10-1.19; 1 pt for 1.20-1.29; 0 pts for 1.30 and above. Awards = 5 for Cy Young; 3 for All-Star (This are close to what baseball-reference.com uses to determine how good MLB pitchers are).

Obviously age plays a factor too, because the older a player is, the longer he has played and racked up wins, all-star games, strikeouts, etc. But for now this is a career comparison. We could always break the total point number by the numbers of years they played to get an average.

Some might say Hunter should be No. 2, but he was edged out because of less strikeouts, less all-star games and less Cy Youngs.

Harry Hendrickson is the only player in the Top 10 with an ERA above 3.70. He is third all time in wins, strikeouts and does have five all-star games. Just don't look at his season so far this year. Remember, this isn't the best pitcher in Season 7, its the best pitcher over the past seven seasons.

Despite Frank Matsui's bad year last year, he still has had an excellent career with a 94-45 record, ERA under 3.00, second-lowest career WHIP and a Cy Young award.

Look at the youngsters making the list -- Tony Cordero and Ebenezer Miller. Assuming these guys average 12 wins over the next 5 years, they could have more wins than Cummings had at 32 years old. Two stars to definitely watch.

As for the great Don Lee -- he had only 20.510 points. At 35, he has only 82 wins, 862 striketous and just one all-star game. The ERA and WHIP are very good, but the other numbers hurt him compared to the others. He has worse stats than almost everybody in the Top 10. Two other players that just missed out -- Socks Ferrell (24.195 points) and Al Corenjo (24.045 points).

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Who will dethrone the Orioles: The top candidates to end eryanf’s dynasty.

by eranyf

1. Honolulu Monk Seals (aka- Class of the AL): The Monk Seals had an absolutely dominant team last season, finishing with 115 wins. However, they were still no match for the Orioles in playoffs. The Orioles (healthy and rested for the first time all season) swept the Monk Seals and left a bitter taste in owner nadawg’s mouth. Nevertheless, the Monk Seals return this season with essentially the same dominant team in tact and they added talented pitcher Ivan Sosa through free agency, giving Honolulu the deepest starting pitching staff in Glavine 300. While Honolulu’s pitching is the team’s most prominent strength, the true secret to Honolulu’s success is their defense. The Monk Seals committed only 78 errors last season; the next lowest total in the AL was 91. Some more stellar defense combined with the acquisition of Ivan Sosa might be enough to fulfill nadawg’s dream of being the “class of the AL”. (Maybe even the “class of Glavine 300”.)

2. San Juan Warlords: For the last three seasons, coach jwinner5 has been stockpiling top prospects. He has finally decided to unleash those prospects on the ML stage. This team is loaded with future stars and the future is now. With the addition of Danny Cummings, Glavine 300’s first $30 million man, San Juan looks to make the jump from worst to first. It might seem a little far-fetch that a team full of prospects could take down the Orioles but these are no ordinary prospects. Several of these prospects will be all-stars and MVP candidates right out of the gate. In fact, based on ratings alone one could make the argument that San Juan is the most talented team in Glavine 300. That said, individual ratings do not always translate into ML league success. The fact is we haven’t seen most of these prospects play an inning of ML baseball so it remains to be seen how all this young talent will fit together. (My guess is that it is only a matter of time before San Juan emerges as the new Glavine Dynasty.)

3. Syracuse Fade to Black: (aka- the Dark Horse): Now that Cummings is no longer a Camp Disappointment, NL has more parity than ever. However, one young, talented team seems like a possible candidate to emerge from the pack and turn into powerhouse. Fade to Black finished as the #2 seed in the NL last season with one of the Youngest teams in Glavine. Those young players have all improved and Syracuse added the very talented SP Ira Spence to its roster via trade. Those two factors could allow Fade to Black to emerge as NL’s best team and give them an outside shot at ending the Orioles’ reign of terror.