FOOL-X: The road to Season 100!

[lynchy34]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Grats to Alan and FOOL-X. This is an awesome idea.

Oh and the waiting list sucks.

The waiting list does indeed suck!

This is awesome stuff for someone new and looking forward to joining the league.

[Alan T]

Thanks for the birthday wishes gang

[Chief Rum]

Heh...I wished you happy birthday on Facebook, Alan, but I figured I should do it here, too.

So HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY, old man!

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Alan T

#2 Havana - New York 2039 - 2049

Who was the most dominant team of the 2040s in FOOL-X? You could get several teams that would like to claim that title. The two front runners would be Havana and New York, both of which made the FOOL-X Classic at least 6 times in the decade and both recording two titles a piece. The two teams faced off against each other four times in a six year span with the Banana Sluggers getting the upper hand three of the four times.

Havana's lineup featured Hitters of the Year Arturo Caro, Michael Peppers, and Felix Medina in a dangerous offensive minded team. In the pitching staff, even though there were numerous all-star selections between the trio of starters Tsuruki Yamaguchi, Wicaksono Layar and Hector Sanchez, their staff was really focuses around three time pitcher of the year Carlos Galindo who won a career high 18 games in 2043.

New York's team was perhaps the opposite. Their lineup featured a Hitter of the year in Mike Hayes (2040) as well as numerous other all stars, but the focus of their team was built around pitching which was a direct contrast to the hitting heavy New York legends teams of the 1990s-2000s. Heading up the pitching staff was three time pitcher of the year Emilio Martinez, two time pitcher of the year John Wilson, the 2045 Pitcher of the year Andres Perez and the 2040 pitcher of the year Sam Vernon. If you managed to get past their dominant pitching staff, you had to face 12-time all star closer Michel Roy whose 413 saves are 9th most all time in league history.

Shout out to mattcubs.

That was indeed a great rivalry we had going. It was amazing how often we would meet. I never paid any attention to the RL during this time--except to see how the Legends were doing. Because even if we didn't meet up in the Classic, we were constantly jockeying for being the best team in the league that year. I would get 95 wins, he would get 100. He would get 100, I would get 105. It was great.

mattcubs is one of the most underrated and generally not talked about great owners in this league, since he generally keeps to himself. But he has proven time and time again what he's capable of running a FOOL team. Witness having a spot on the top two rivalries.

And thanks, Alan, for a great writeup. I loved those Hibbies teams. I don't know I will ever be able to put together a collection of talent like that again.

[ekcut]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Shout out to mattcubs.

That was indeed a great rivalry we had going. It was amazing how often we would meet. I never paid any attention to the RL during this time--except to see how the Legends were doing. Because even if we didn't meet up in the Classic, we were constantly jockeying for being the best team in the league that year. I would get 95 wins, he would get 100. He would get 100, I would get 105. It was great.

mattcubs is one of the most underrated and generally not talked about great owners in this league, since he generally keeps to himself. But he has proven time and time again what he's capable of running a FOOL team. Witness having a spot on the top two rivalries.

And thanks, Alan, for a great writeup. I loved those Hibbies teams. I don't know I will ever be able to put together a collection of talent like that again.

*Hits "like" button*

mattcubs is the coiled cobra sitting unnoticed in the corner of the room

[mattcubs]

All eyes are now on me. I think it is time to snake back into the grass...

EKcut: I look forward to a rematch this season. Thanks for not moving the Southpaws to Edmonton, because if you did I would have been really tempted to move the Legends to begin the FOOL battle of Alberta.

Chief: Get those Potassium Pounders ready for a run. So we can renew a lost rivalry. It has been almost too long.

MattG: The lost note about the Legends-Hops Rivalry was the fact we played in the RL championship basically every year for a good decade (it seemed).

Back to the corner i go...see you all soon...

[Alan T]

Regarding new York - Portland .. I was tempted to list that, and it was definitely on my top 10 list when I was putting things together. It definitely was a good contest between those two teams during 2005-2010, but I decided to pick one of the New York matchups during those years and felt the New York - St. Louis one overshadowed it (as well as perhaps my favorite rivalry of all time in this league).

For Portland , the 2009 - 2010 seasons were super magical in my mind. You had here one of the FOOL-X expansion teams (we had our last expansion in 1985) and by the year 2005, only one of the four expansion teams had actually won the title in their first 20 seasons. Portland finally looked to be ready to compete, and had some super talented players themselves at the time. (Portland's Ling-lai Joo had maybe two of the best seasons I can ever recall in 2007 and 2010). They ran into that New York Juggernaut though, but finally in 2009 they broke free of the Legends, defeating them and becoming the second of the 1985 expansion teams to win a title.

The only thing I felt really missing in that rivalry was the back and forth competitiveness between the teams. It was more a case of Portland waiting for New York to age out before overcoming them, only to watch Spring do the same to them a few seasons later.

[Alan T]

Top 5 Catchers of the first 100 years:

#5 - Jesus Martinez (Balzac/Portland) - 9 time All Star, 2 time Best Fielder

#4 - Danny Barry (Virginia Beach) - Hall of Fame, 2 time Hitter of the year, 11 time All Star, 3 time Best Fielder

#3 - Bob Joly (Stafford/Spring/Oshawa/Waikiki/Chicago) - Hall of Fame, 2 time Hitter of the year, 12 time All Star

#2 - John Stout (Cumberland/New York/Spring/Balzac) - Hall of Fame, 1 time Hitter of the year, 9 time All Star, 5 time Best Fielder


#1 Kien-lung Teng (New York/Chicago) - Hall of Fame, 7 time Hitter of the year, Rookie of the year, 13 time All Star, 2 time Best Fielder

Perhaps the least difficult choice of any position is which Catcher is the greatest FOOL-X player of all time. Going a step further, choosing the top 4 catchers of all time was not that difficult either as these four hall of famers are among the best players to ever play.

Kien-lung Teng is arguably the best player that FOOL-X has ever seen. The amount of public backlash against him was also greater than perhaps any other player this league has ever had. Due to playing in a very friendly hitter's park, many questioned if Teng was a product of the location or if he truly was that much better than those on the same field as him. The stats are in his favor though. Even though he did benefit from a friendly park, when looking at park-neutralized stats Teng still has the second best career of all time. The big question now however is if he will still be crowned the all time Home Run King after tomorrow morning.

[Alan T]

Top 5 First Basemen of the first 100 Years:

#5 - José Carlos Martínez (Virginia Beach/Ann Arbor) - 2 time Hitter of the Year, 10 time All Star

#4 - Shawn Dunbar (Ann Arbor) - 11 time All Star

#3 - Jose Serrano (Stafford/Chicago/St. Louis) - 2 time Hitter of the Year, Rookie of the Year, 13 time All Star

#2 - Phil Harrington (Spring) - Hall of Fame, 3 time Hitter of the Year, 11 time All Star

#1 - Ling-lai Joo (Portland/Chicago/Ann Arbor) - 3 time Hitter of the Year, 10 time All Star


Did you know that in the first 100 seasons of FOOL-X, there have been only 2 first basemen to be elected to the Hall of Fame? No other position had fewer selections. For such a prime "power" position in the lineup, historically FOOL-X has not had many elite players at that position. Perhaps that might change over the next 100 years as two of today's first basemen in Raul Ruiz and Jose Arreola might some day be considered among the league's best.

Did you also know that my selection for the best first baseman of the first 100 seasons is not even in the Hall of Fame? Surely the Hall of Fame Committee must be taken to task for that, as Joo once upon a time was a name whispered in the same breath as Kien-lung Teng. Joo's Republic League dominance in the early 2000's were perhaps as good of seasons as any player in the league have ever experienced. There have only been 22 occurances in league history where a player had an OPS+ of 194 or higher in a single season. Joo had three of those seasons, including an astronomical 216 in the 2007 season. Only Bartolo Liriano and Kien-lung Teng can also boast of that feat. As great as Teng was, he also never had a single season as good as Joo's best. Joo not only was the best first baseman in league's history he is arguably one of the best 10 players in the league history.

[ekcut]

Love it!

I just wish I had more players as "possibles" for these lists. My teams are usually based on depth from top to bottom, rather then superstars.
So most of these names listed so far are curse words!!

[hyde4us11]

Originally Posted by ekcut

Love it!

I just wish I had more players as "possibles" for these lists. My teams are usually based on depth from top to bottom, rather then superstars.
So most of these names listed so far are curse words!!

Don't worry, your not the only.

[Alan T]

Top 5 Pitchers of the first 100 years:

#5 - Tom O'Reilly (Cleveland) - Hall of Fame, Pitcher of the year, 10 time All Star, 6 time Best Fielder

#4 - Bobby Kuhn (Mexico City/Portland) - Hall of Fame, 2 time Pitcher of the Year, 8 time All Star

#3 - Carlos Bardino (Portland/Washington/Maricopa/New York/Ann Arbor/Spring/Indianapolis) - Hall of Fame, 3 time pitcher of the year, 12 time all star, 2 time best fielder

#2 - George Wilson (Cumberland/Spring/St. Cloud/New York) - Hall of Fame, 10 time Pitcher of the year, rookie of the year, 14 time all star, best fielder


#1 - Mauro Morales (Spring) - Hall of Fame, 12 time Pitcher of the year, 17 time All Star



Just like the Catcher position, there is no drama in choosing which Pitcher was the best of all time. Ever since the day that Morales retired, we have been searching for which pitcher will become the "Next Morales." Nearly 80 years later, we are still looking for the next coming.

What can I say about Morales that has not already been said? Not only did he win more pitcher of the year awards than any other pitcher in history, he won the away 8 consecutive seasons. Other than his rookie season of 1962, Morales made the all star game every single season of his career, 17 straight years. When he retired at the age of 38 in 1979, he did so with more wins than any other pitcher in league history. The even more amazing note is in his final year, he still went 20-8 and could have very likely reached the 400 win mark before his arm went.

[hyde4us11]

Morales was something special. I remember watching him from afar and thinking how great it would be to sit back knowing I had an ace like that.

[Alan T]

Top 5 Third Basemen of the first 100 years:

#5 Alberto Diaz (Portland) - 6 time All Star

#4 Takanibu Inoue (New York/Chicago/Ann Arbor) - 8 time All Star, 8 time Best Fielder

#3 Jose Vidal (Oshawa/Chicago/London/Havana) - 11 time All Star, 1 time Best Fielder

#2 Bill Fields (Ann Arbor) - Hall of Fame, Hitter of the Year, Rookie of the year, 12 time All Star, 4 time Best Fielder


#1 Arturo Caro (Havana) - Hall of Fame, 2 time Hitter of the year, 12 time All Star, 1 time Best Fielder



There are a few possible surprises with the list of FOOL-X's greatest third basemen of the first century. Included in the list is our first active player in Jose Vidal. Notably excluded from the list is the upcoming season's biggest story Hector Palmeiro, who has a shot at becoming the all time FOOL-X home run king this season.

The top spot at third base however goes to hall of famer and long time Banana Slugger legend Arturo Caro. During his fifteen seasons with Havana, many considered the Banana Sluggers to be the best team in baseball. This was large to do with Caro's production both at the plate and in the field. Not bad for a player who was picked 9th in the 2031 draft.

[Alan T]

Top 5 Second Basemen of the first 100 seasons

#5 Juan Carmona (Chicago/Cumberland) - 1 time Hitter of the Year, 11 time All Star, 1 time Best Fielder

#4 Ryan Cook (Cleveland/Cumberland) - Hall of Fame, 5 time Hitter of the year, 11 time All Star, 2 time Best Fielder

#3 Bailey Marks (Chicago/Stafford/Spring) - Hall of Fame, 1 time Hitter of the year, 18 time All Star

#2 Jose Reyes (Balzac/Portland) - Hall of Fame, 1 time Hitter of the year, 12 time All Star, 4 time best Fielder


#1 Richie Moore (Ann Arbor/Washington/Chicago/Stafford) - Hall of Fame, 5 time Hitter of the year, 15 time All Star, 2 time Best Fielder



Second Base is perhaps one of the deepest positions in FOOL-X history when it comes to greatness. While most positions have one or maybe two stand out players that have achieved FOOL-X immortality and are considered among the best ever, at Second Base, we had four. With very little to distinguish the careers of Moore, Reyes, Marks and Cook you could virtually go in any order that you wish with them.

Among the second basemen listed here, we have the Career leader in OBP (Reyes) and career leader in Games played and RBIS (Marks). The standout for me in this class however is Richie Moore, who had perhaps one of the best five year stretches that any player has had in this league. Between 2035 and 2039, Moore won 4 hitter of the year awards and led the league in OPS four of the five seasons.

[Alan T]

Top 5 Shortstops of the first 100 seasons:

#5 Robby LaVergne (Spring) - Hall of Fame, 9 time All Star, 5 time best fielder

#4 Jose Salas (London) - Hall of Fame, Rookie of the Year, 13 time All Star, 2 time Best Fielder

#3 Curt Hunt (Ann Arbor/Havana) - Hall of Fame, 1 time Hitter of the year, 11 time All Star, 3 time Best Fielder

#2 Juan Castillo (Portland) - Hall of Fame, Rookie of the Year, 10 time All Star

#1 Alan Chapman (Las Vegas) - Hall of Fame, 11 time All Star, 7 time Best Fielder


Where the Second Base position was a tough choice due to some of the best players in league history, the Shortstop position might be the weakest position offensively in the league's first 100 seasons. As a group, the 5 shortstops elected to the FOOL-X hall of fame was the only position to not average at least a .900 OPS. In fact, not a single hall of fame shortstop hit .900 OPS for their career. At a position that is perhaps the most importantly defensively in the game, the five best at their position are a solid mix of good hitters and great glovesmen.

Only one of these short stops ever won even one hitter of the year award, so the top choice went to perhaps the best defensive shortstop in league history. Alan Chapman leads all shortstops in career Fielding Win Shares, was great at turning the double play with over 200 more double plays than any other shortstop in league history and in the 11 year span between ages 23 and 34, he won 7 best fielder awards. Chapman wasn't all glove and no bat however, he leads all shortstops in career VORP, hits, singles and total bases. His 3617 hits over his career is good for 5th all time among any position in FOOL-X history!

[EddieK]

You know are a bad GM when you don't have one player on this list and you've been playing FOOL for 2 years (In real life). I can't count Bardino since I only had him for 3 years.

[Alan T]

Top 5 Outfielders of the first 100 seasons

#5 Bernt Pedersen (Chicago/Cleveland/Washington/Ann Arbor/Waikiki) - Hall of Fame, 4 time Hitter of the Year, Rookie of the Year, 12 time All Star, 3 time Best Fielder

#4 Bernard Moore (Boston) - Hall of Fame, 3 time Hitter of the Year, 13 time All Star, 3 time Best Fielder

#3 Bartolo Liriano (Virginia Beach/Cumberland) - Hall of Fame, 8 time Hitter of the year, 12 time All Star

#2 Jose Sosa (Washington/London) - Hall of Fame, 8 time Hitter of the year, Rookie of the Year, 14 time All Star

#1 Luis Huerta (Mexico City/St. Louis) - Hall of Fame, 10 time Hitter of the year, Rookie of the Year, 14 time All Star


The Outfield position is perhaps the toughest to nail down just five of the best player in the first century, as this list includes some of the best hitters the league has ever seen. Especially when you consider the player that the league chose to name the Best Hitter award after ended up just third on my list, it helps show just how spectacular the top of the list is.

The top pick of Huerta might be the most surprising or controversial of any that I made however. I personally believe that Huerta might be the single most under-rated player in FOOL-X history. In a Poll from roughly 15 seasons ago, Huerta only received one vote as the best hitter ever. Huerta's numbers speak for themselves however. Not only does he have more hitter of the year awards than any other player in league history, Huerta's 2005 season where he hit .380 with 56 HR and 153 RBI plus an OBP of .515 might be the best season of any single player in league history.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Alan T

The best teams of the first 100 seasons


#5 1996 Boston Resettlers (119-43) Lost in FOOL-X Classic to the New York Legends

I do miss my old Resettlers teams. Fun times...

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

I do miss my old Resettlers teams. Fun times...

We miss having you around too!

[ekcut]

Originally Posted by EddieK

You know are a bad GM when you don't have one player on this list and you've been playing FOOL for 2 years (In real life). I can't count Bardino since I only had him for 3 years.

You know you are a GOOD GM when you have no players on these lists, yet you have as many titles as you do!!

[EddieK]

Outfield is so tough I mean we even don't have the hits leader Eddie Cunningham who was very good in other areas as well.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Top 5 Third Basemen of the first 100 years:

#5 Alberto Diaz (Portland) - 6 time All Star

#4 Takanibu Inoue (New York/Chicago/Ann Arbor) - 8 time All Star, 8 time Best Fielder

#3 Jose Vidal (Oshawa/Chicago/London/Havana) - 11 time All Star, 1 time Best Fielder

#2 Bill Fields (Ann Arbor) - Hall of Fame, Hitter of the Year, Rookie of the year, 12 time All Star, 4 time Best Fielder


#1 Arturo Caro (Havana) - Hall of Fame, 2 time Hitter of the year, 12 time All Star, 1 time Best Fielder



There are a few possible surprises with the list of FOOL-X's greatest third basemen of the first century. Included in the list is our first active player in Jose Vidal. Notably excluded from the list is the upcoming season's biggest story Hector Palmeiro, who has a shot at becoming the all time FOOL-X home run king this season.

The top spot at third base however goes to hall of famer and long time Banana Slugger legend Arturo Caro. During his fifteen seasons with Havana, many considered the Banana Sluggers to be the best team in baseball. This was large to do with Caro's production both at the plate and in the field. Not bad for a player who was picked 9th in the 2031 draft.

Heh...harder to stay connected to the league when you're in computer hell, waiting to get your laptop (got my shipping noitce on Friday, BTW). Anyway, I missed this the first time around.

Caro was truly something else. It always amazed me how he managed to maintain his productivity. I remember considering whether to resign him at 34, as he wanted a three yeard deal, and I was certain he was about to fall apart. I signed him anyway, and he had two more completely normal productive seasons before kinda falling away in the last one. He was an amazing player.

[Alan T]

FOOL-X teams of the decade:

1961-1970: Virginia Beach Surf - 897-727 (.552) 4 titles, 5 RL Championships, 6 playoff appearances.

1971-1980: Spring Lions - 914-708 (.564) 3 titles, 4 RL Championships, 8 playoff appearances.

1981-1990: Maricopa Rattlers - 878-742 (.542) 2 titles, 3 RL Championships, 7 playoff appearances

1991-2000: Boston Resettlers - 944-678 (.582) 2 titles, 5 CL Championships, 7 playoff appearances

2001-2010: New York Legends - 960-661 (.592) 2 titles, 4 RL Championships, 8 playoff appearances

2011-2020: Spring Lions - 929-691 (.573) 3 titles, 5 RL Championships, 5 playoff appearances

2021-2030: New York Legends - 901-722 (.555) 4 titles, 5 RL Championships, 6 playoff appearances

2031-2040: Havana Banana Sluggers - 936-684 (.578) 4 titles, 7 CL Championships, 8 playoff appearances

2041-2050: New York Legends - 1008-613 (.622) 2 titles, 6 RL Championships, 10 playoff appearances

2051-2059: Chicago Southpaws/London Bishops - 911-547 (.625) 6 titles, 8 CL Championships, 9 playoff appearances


Alan T's team of the century:

The Spring Lions

Choosing the team of the century was a tough call. Four franchises stood out over the others, but in two different molds. Obviously looking at the London Bishops who had a good run in the 1960s and perhaps the greatest run of all time over the last 10 seasons was in the mix. The New York Legends also were considered, having more titles than any other franchise in the last 100 seasons, plus being the only team chosen as team of the decade three different times. The third team in the mix was the Washington Freedom. The Freedom have the second best winning percentage in league history and third most playoff appearances (only 1 behind London).

In the end, I chose the Spring Lions as the best team of the decade for many reasons. They have the third most titles in league history (9), just behind London and New York. The Lions have the fourth most playoff appearances in the league history. Spring has the most wins in league history and is the owner of the best winning percentage in the league history.

The amazing fact about Spring is not only do they have 34 playoff appearances in the first 100 seasons, they also finished third place 22 times which was easily the most of any franchise. To take it a step further, Spring finished above .500 74 different times in the course of the first 99 seasons. The one thing that I love about Spring is that they avoid the strategy of completely destroying a team and rebuilding for a decade that many use. Only four times in the first century has Spring had losing seasons consecutively. The longest such run was 2045-2047 when they had below .500 records three straight seasons. During those years they had 79 wins, 80 wins and 70 wins. Only once has Spring won less than 70 games (2027 when they went 69-93).

To me that is an amazing feat and well worth mentioning!

[ekcut]

Originally Posted by Alan T

FOOL-X teams of the decade:

The amazing fact about Spring is not only do they have 34 playoff appearances in the first 100 seasons, they also finished third place 22 times which was easily the most of any franchise. To take it a step further, Spring finished above .500 74 different times in the course of the first 99 seasons. The one thing that I love about Spring is that they avoid the strategy of completely destroying a team and rebuilding for a decade that many use. Only four times in the first century has Spring had losing seasons consecutively. The longest such run was 2045-2047 when they had below .500 records three straight seasons. During those years they had 79 wins, 80 wins and 70 wins. Only once has Spring won less than 70 games (2027 when they went 69-93).

To me that is an amazing feat and well worth mentioning!

Agreed wholeheartedly!
There is nothing at all wrong with the "Strip it down, and build it back up" appraoch, but to be, year in and year out, a contender without those rebuilding years, takes a true mastermind!
To be honest, this is news to me. I am well aware of Springs playoff history and success....but I never noticed their career winning percentage and how few losing seasons they have had!

[TeachEnEspanol]

AGREED, Alan! Tasan deserves all of the accolades and more. The way that he keeps his team going consistently is amazing!

[TeachEnEspanol]

Originally Posted by Alan T

We miss having you around too!