I still clearly remember watching that old timers game as a 9 year old. Crazy. And he was never a HR hitter.
MLB Draft Round 16 Last Round
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I still clearly remember watching that old timers game as a 9 year old. Crazy. And he was never a HR hitter.
Agreed. Texted the wife at work and informed her I got a steal, when I picked him. I honestly couldn’t believe he was still available, either, to be honest.
Off of a 61 year old Spahn, who had not pitched a game about 2 decades. But I can't blame you for being deeply afraid of my rotation.
That is one of my all time favorite clips. I just hope to be alive at 75 let alone taking HOFers downtown.
Agreed. Texted the wife at work and informed her I got a steal, when I picked him. I honestly couldn’t believe he was still available, either, to be honest.
He should’ve been one of the first 5 2B taken IMO. I grew up with a kid named Charlie Gehringer who was dipping & smoking in 2nd grade, lol.
Mr. Appling deserves more credit than that, Hannibal. He didn't just go yard at age 75 off the slowest bunny toss a hall of famer ever threw. He homered off the winningest left hander in MLB history. The winningest pitcher of both the live ball and post war era's. A pitcher who's first ballot entry into the hall was almost the least of his accomplishments.
And, Spahn’s ERA was under 1.50 in old-timers games going into that one. He also had a 33 scoreless inning streak in old-timers games before that pitch. And, I think Appling had torn his Achilles making a diving play the prior half inning. I’m surprised he didn’t do it left handed to make it fair. Lol
And Spahn probably tore a disc in lower cervical, the way he jerked his old neck up to watch that thing explode off Luke's light saber.
I think @KopiKat is nervous of our hypothetical matchup. Seems like Mr. Appling has Spahns # could make a difference in the game!
@podgejeff_ has a 1/2 hour to go. I'll give him 30 minutes extra (1730 hrs. EDT). And then I'm claiming a pick. Seems like everyone wants this to move along better and we should have time to work back to the top of the order before bedtime.
It's time to claim Gary Sheffield . . . very surprised he hasn't been grabbed already. One of the most feared hitters ever. Controversy still with Mr. Sheffield, sure. But a terror to almost every style of pitching, and that includes lefty's with curveball prowess. Bat speed not to be believed . . . ability to get in front or wait on pitches like few or no others. Solid in the outfield and very good at 3rd base. Even played some of his career at first and maybe middle infield.
>500 career homers, almost 1700 RBIs
@csrupp your turn, let's get it moving
>500 career homers, almost 1700 RBIs
@csrupp your turn, let's get it moving
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Great pick. I was gonna take him in a cpl picks. He can play 3B too & even emergency SS. He stands out to me as one of the hardest hitters I’ve seen. Seemed like everything off his bat was a laser.
I still need a legit center fielder. Have basically conceded that all the CF big bats with major name recognition are gone. But lots remain with good gloves, speed and overall quality careers. There are some CFs of notable lore with quality bat pop remaining, but would have to do some PR work on their behalf to get votes and maybe deal with some off-the-field issues - lol. Not actually funny, but could be fun to do (post about) from an educational standpoint. There are some unusual baseball stories out there. And I still need a catcher.
Also need a closer. But with my trio of complete game stallions and offensive lineup I'm sort of willing to let the voters understand that 'close'r need is sort of in the pun and not just in the late inning.
Sorry about the late pick guys. I'll take Dale Murphy. During the 80s the guy won TWO MVPs playing center field. Gold glove defense, power, average, and speed. A true 5 tool guy.
Fun Fact: more than 7% of Bob Ueker's career home runs came off of legendary Dodger lefty Sandy Koufax. Video anyone?
great pick . . . watched a LOT of Dale Murphy back in the day, early 80s cable TV on TBS. And probably a bit earlier than that even, before the "superstation" switched from the WTCG call letters. Some great players would have been so much the greater had they not played an entire career on sub-average (being nice) teams. Count me in the group who thinks it a shame he isn't in the HOF. He had some great seasons.
I’ll have a lot of PR work too bc half of my team is from the 20s & 30s. I just can’t help myself & draft bigger names for easy votes. It’s hard for me to pass on the old timers who have been almost mythological figures most of my life with their insane stats. I grew up in essentially the modern dead ball era of the 80s & until ‘87 we just didn’t see huge numbers like they put up in the 30s & I’ve been fascinated with that era ever since.
Yep! Yep! And how many did Clayton Kershaw give up to him?? I’ll hang up and listen....
I really don't know. Sorry. But hey, did you hear that Adidas is expected to market a line of Kershaw signature underwear this fall?
There's a LOT to contemplate there. Have you ever read any sort of serious work / analysis on the evolution of pitching for that first completely new generation of pitchers to the live ball era? Talking about MLB pitchers in the 30s who never once in their lives really knew the difference between the two balls? And I'm not even saying it made a difference. I'm merely saying I don't know how well pitching understood (say, in theory) things like pitch movement / rotation, change of speeds, what % of pitchers in the league had a legit repertoire, or could legitimately locate because of understanding of release points . . . all the sorts of things that we know years later to be scientific and thorough.
Another way to present this: no way do I believe by the 1950s Babe Ruth could have been equally successful swinging a bat as big and heavy as he was known to use. Pitching was just too good by then. Could he have adjusted with a lighter, still somewhat heavy bat and been hugely successful. Sure, that I believe. But the days off being able to walk his body forward in the box in order to power that big slab time and again were over, and for reasons due to the evolution in pitch movement alone. That's not to say pitchers in the late 20s and 30s couldn't move a ball. But how many of them throughout the league? How well? How often? And to somewhat get back to the point of theory, how well was it understood how a pitcher could work a batter throughout a sequence in those days? Even among the best pitchers / signal callers? This scratches some of the high science within the game. And like all science, it changes over time, new discoveries, improvements in understandings and future application.
And back to my first question, if you are aware of any sort of published work for the subject, for the period, please let me know. Because for me? I haven't.
No, I’ve never read or seen anything published but if it exists it’s surely online. It’s an interesting topic & I wouldn’t mind reading up if there is something out there. I try to take all that into account & assume that older players would at least be better versions of themselves with access to today’s nutrition, training & technology for scouting & that some would be great in any era.
Agree. That is the good theory for older players going forward. Going backwards, and more pragmatic, is that if modern era players (who are simply better), had played in the 20s or 30s then they would be limited by the variables you've described and a change (possible decrease) in their performances might be observed.
I very nearly chose him. Changed to Sutter on the last second based on his mastery of the split-finger.
I generally want to either agree with this, or look at it as a "judge their stats against their competition." Because honestly, we're talking about players from the 20s and 30s with their huge numbers but this same argument could apply to guys from the 80s vs today. Average pitchers today would have been considered flamethrowers back then. Everybody is hitting mid 90s now. Relievers and guys out of high school are hitting triple digits.
I just assume an all-time MLB draft would be treating Babe Ruth like he'd be Babe Ruth today.
Not arguing your points any, but would just like to remind of what you likely already know. And I only understand it a little. That being notable changes in instrumentation, the technology used today vs. the 70s and 80s. Today, instrumentation is sophisticated enough to measure the maximum speed of a given throw (pitch) from the instant the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. Whereas in the 70s / 80s radar was not as responsive. For this part I do not understand the exacts. A reading then may have been from the midpoint of the pitch. Or it may have been, say, at approximately 12-15 ft. in front of the batter (first distance in which the instrument had enough time to respond). Again, I am not an expert here. However, I do understand that a pitch rapidly loses velocity at the rate of something like 1 mph every several feet (based on a pitch with an initial exit velocity of >90 mph). There is likely some readily available data / presentations for this right here on the good ole www. Again, not arguing against necessarily. And although enough technology distinctions are there to make direct comparisons, period to period, impractical, none of that could refute the likelihood that a higher overall % of arms throughout the league are legit mid to upper 90s than 4 decades ago.
@LukaszObrzut has until 11:00 AM as he had an hour before dead period last night.... @JHannibalSmith you can pick then
It’s tough trying to have back ups for every position with only 3 bench players but I’ll be close after adding my utility infielder. He’s one of the best defensive 2B ever & also eligible at 3B & SS. He’s a HOFer & helped lead his teams to 4 WS titles, the last as player/manager of the famed Gas House Gang Cardinals in ‘34. He joins Cochrane as the 2nd player/manager on my team. He’s a switch hitter & top of the lineup guy who rarely struck out & led the league in steals 3 times. He was the 1931 NL MVP & has a 162 game average of .316 with 7 HR, 87 RBI, 202 hits, 33 2B, 10 3B & 107 runs/year. I’ll take the Fordham Flash, Frankie Frisch.
@CB3UK OTC
@CB3UK OTC
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Great pick. He was going to be one of my 2 on the next turn
Lol.....sure.....Ill go right ahead and steal second. Chase Utley still inexplicably available at this late juncture! Dont mind if I do!
@BigBlueFanGA ssddle up
@BigBlueFanGA ssddle up
Dang, I'm still not getting notifications.
At any rate I'll take Dave Winfield.
Winfield is a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, a World Series champion and winner of seven Gold Gloves and six Silver Slugger awards, while being named to 12 All-Star teams. Winfield finished his MLB career with a. 283 batting average, 465 home runs, 1,833 RBIs and 3,110 hits. Quite a player to still be on the board.
@jcrow10 you're up
At any rate I'll take Dave Winfield.
Winfield is a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, a World Series champion and winner of seven Gold Gloves and six Silver Slugger awards, while being named to 12 All-Star teams. Winfield finished his MLB career with a. 283 batting average, 465 home runs, 1,833 RBIs and 3,110 hits. Quite a player to still be on the board.
@jcrow10 you're up
![[laughing]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/laugh.r191677.gif "Laughing [laughing]")
