Greatest National League
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In a post I wrote called “Reaching Back and a Long Journey Ahead”, I laid out the insane idea of creating a Greatest Major Leagues, made up of only franchises that won a World Series. Each franchise can only have one representative. For example, The Braves have won three world series: 1914 in Boston, 1957 in Milwaukee, and 1995 in Atlanta (only one with all that pitching ?). Each team played each other 10 games with the team having the best record being the representative for that franchise. There will be 12 National League teams and 12 American League teams.
So far, I’m working on the National League. The 2019 Nationals are already in since they have only won one world series. The 1957 Milwaukee Braves are the next team in after going 13-7 vs. the 1914 and 1995 Braves. Warren Spahn dominated his six starts with a 1.16 ERA and 0.77 WHIP while earning a 5-1 record. Currently I’m playing with Pirates championship teams (1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, and 1979) to see who will represent the Pittsburgh Pirate franchise. I’ll use this forum section to write updates for anyone who is interested!
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Cue Sister Sledge as the “We are Family” 1979 Pirates outlasted the 1909, 1925, 1960, and 1971 Pirates to gain entry into the Greatest National League with a 25-15 record. Each team played 10 games against the others in a 40 game play in series. Here were the final standings:
1979 Pirates: 25-15
1909 Pirates: 22-18
1925 Pirates: 21-19
1971 Pirates: 18-22
1960 Pirates: 14-26The '79 Bucs dominated the '60 and '71 squads, winning a combined 15 of 20 games. They then split their remaining games against the '09 and '25 teams. Willie Stargell made the most of his .242 average with series highs in HRs (20), RBI (38), and runs scored (40) in 153 ABs to go with a 1.020 OPS. Omar Moreno led the team in average at ,309 and stole a series high 25 bases in 27 attempts. The starting rotation of Bert Blyleven, John Candelaria, Bruce Kison, and Don Robinson were good and at times dominant. Candelaria and Kison were two of the only three pitchers in the series to post ERAs under 3 and Robinson pitched an unlikely no hitter. Kent Tekulve delivered eight saves in 14 appearances with a 3.50 ERA.
Other notable performances in the play in games: Earl Smith of the '25 Pirates led in batting average at .351. He also had the most doubles and the highest OPS at 1.030. The '71 version of Roberto Clemente had the most hits with 58 on his way to a .345 average while the '60 version had only 31 for a .226 average. Triples were pretty common throughout the games; Kiki Cuyler of the '25 Pirates and Chief WIlson of the '09 Pirates each had nine of them. Vic WIllis of the '09 Bucs had a 1.34 ERA and 0.70 WHIP in eight starts. He had a 7-0 record in those games. His teammate Howie Camnitz tossed the most strikeouts with 59.
The '79 Pirates join the 2019 Washington Nationals and the 1957 Milwaukee Braves in the Greatest National League. The 1980 and 2008 Phillies will battle next to see who represents the Philadelphia Phillies Franchise.
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The City of Brotherly Love will be represented in the Greatest National League by the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies who bested the 2008 Phillies six games to three in a best of 11 series. It was fitting for me as a Philadelphia native for the first team I followed in my lifetime that won a world championship (The Flyers won back to back Stanley Cups in the mid 70s but I didn’t follow sports, much less hockey back then) not to mention the team that was part of my first year playing in an APBA league, winning this series.
It was a fun series to play out that featured great pitching duels between Steve Carlton and Cole Hamels, a no hitter hurled by Jamie Moyer and his 59 mph fastball and 35mph changeup, and slugfests in which both teams scored double digit runs at least once. Carlton struck out 10 and didn’t give up an earned run in the ‘80’s Game One 2-1 win; Mike Schmidt’s two run homer, the only mistake in Hamels’ otherwise stellar outing, was the difference. Moyer’s no hitter came in Game Two in the 2K8’s 3-0 win; Jayson Werth hit two solo homers in the game. The 80’s Phils’ offense took over the next two games, winning 8-2 and 17-12(!) respectively. In the 17-12 bloodbath, Schmidt hit two dingers and drove in five runs. The 80’s Phillies took a 4-1 lead in the series by winning Game Five (Carlton’s second start) 2-1 on a walk-off RBI single by Bake McBride in the 9th inning. The 2K8’s offense that had been mostly dormant came alive the next two games as they won 6-2 and 15-7 respectively. Pat Burrell hit three of his four homeruns in the series in the 15-7 win. The 80’s Phils retook control with a 9-1 blowout in Game Eight and Carlton and Tug McGraw closed out the series with another 2-1 win. Poor Hamels only got three runs scored from his teammates in his three starts.
The biggest key in the 1980 team beating the 2008 team is that the 80’s big guns (Schmidt and Carlton) outperformed the 2K8’s big guns (Ryan Howard and Chase Utley). Schmidt hit .406 to go with his three homers, 10 RBI, and nine runs scored in nine games with an OBP of .525 and an OPS of 1.275, while Carlton had an ERA of 0.75 in three starts, struck out 25 batters in 24 innings and had a WHIP of 0.71. Howard hit just .194 with no home runs in the series while Utley was even worse at .114. Hamels’ 2.05 ERA and 1.09 WHIP was trumped by Carlton’s dominance. Moyer didn’t give up an earned run in either of his two starts; he arguably could have been the best pitcher of the series if he had had a third start.
The next play in series will be between the 1969 and 1986 New York Mets. It will be a battle between the “Miracle Mets”, led in part by the recently departed Tom Seaver, and a team that miraculously avoided elimination in Game Six in the 1986 series vs. the Red Sox in what was the most infamous playoff baseball game ever played. I was a freshman at Syracuse University when this game took place; the whole campus was filled with New York and Boston fans. The ecstasy/agony that went on was amazing. I can’t even fathom what Twitter would have been like during that game. Hell, following the '86 Mets on social media with Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Keith “I’m Keith Hernandez” Hernandez, and Lenny Dykstra would have been fun. Anyway, it should be an interesting series with a lot of great pitching.
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Great project. Wow, just determining your Yankees’ rep is going to be a major tournament in itself…
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@RandySteinman I know! lol Even limiting those series to six games apiece will be like a full season itself.
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No miracles were needed for the 1969 New York Mets as they defeated the 1986 Mets six games to three to gain entry into the Greatest Major Leagues; they just needed their pitching along with some timely hitting. Game one set the tone with Jerry Koosman, Bob Ojeda, and their respective bullpens holding each team to just five hits in 15 innings until the '69 Mets finally won 2-1. Tom Seaver outdueled Dwight Gooden as the '69 Mets won game two 3-2. The bats came out to play for the next two games with the '86 Mets winning game three 12-6 and the Miracles winning a dramatic 10-9 game to take a three games to one lead. After game four, the two teams would combine to average five runs scored a game for the rest of the series. Tommy Agee, one of the few warm bats in the series (.308, two homeruns, seven RBI), hit a two run homer in the eighth of game five to take out Ojeda and the '86 Mets 3-1. Gary Gentry, who was shelled in 1 1/3 innings in game three rebounded with a three hit, 10 strikeout, shutout in the '69 Mets 1-0 win in game seven. The '86 Mets fought back, coming from behind to win game eight 4-3, then sending game nine into extra innings by tying it in the ninth only to lose the game and series in the bottom of the tenth by failing to turn a double play with the bases loaded. Koosman was easily the star of the series posting a 2-0 record, a 0.69 ERA, 22 strikeouts in 26 innings, and a 0.58 WHIP. Ojeda had the misfortune of facing Koosman three times while putting up impressive numbers himself ( 1.17 ERA, 0.48 WHIP). Neither team hit above .205 for the series. The '69 Mets join the 2019 Nationals, the 1980 Phillies, the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, and the 1979 Pirates in the Greatest National League. The next play in series to be played will be between the forgettable Florida Marlins of 1997 and 2003 who are more known for breaking their championship teams apart to cut costs than actually winning championships. One of them will win and actually stay together!
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2003 was the first year Major League Baseball began leaguewide testing for PEDs. The 2003 Florida Marlins needed to have their bats tested during their play in series with the 1997 Marlins, a series the '97 Marlins won six games to three to gain entry into the Greatest National League. The '03 Marlins hit an anemic .174 over the nine games and averaged less than three runs scored a game.
After giving up nine runs in the first two games of the series, the '97 Marlins surrendered only 17 runs in the remaining seven games. Livan Hernandez allowed only four hits and struck out seven in a complete game start in Game Three won by the ‘97 Marlins 7-1. Al Leiter followed with a complete game in Game Four in which he allowed one earned run and struck eight in an 11-2 blowout. Kevin Brown followed that with a two-hit, one run, 10 strikeout outing to win 3-1 in Game Five. Game Six was Alex Fernandez’ turn to dominate and he did with a three hit shutout in a 4-0 win. The 2003 Marlins won the next two games 7-1 and 4-1 to regain some dignity before the '97 Marlins closed the series out in Game Nine 3-2 thanks to Moises Alou’s go-ahead two run double in the seventh. Brown allowed two runs and struck out eight in eight innings.
While the '97 Marlins didn’t have smoking bats either, they hit .207 for the series, the relentless pitching set a low bar for their offense virtually every game. Brown and Hernandez averaged nine or more strikeouts per start and the bullpen gave up just two earned runs in 12 innings.
The next play-in series will be between the Chicago Cubs of 1907, 1908, and 2016. Most baseball fans are aware that the longest drought between world championships is owned by the Cubs with 108 years, but many may not know that the 1908 team was the second of what nearly became a dynasty. Currently, the 1957 Milwaukee Braves are the oldest team entered into the Greatest Major Leagues. The '07 and '08 Cubs will try to top that in a 20 game round robin series.
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In the battle to see who would represent the Chicago Cubs in the Greatest National League, it was the ultimate experiment of old school vs. new school in which the 1907 Cubs outlasted their more famous 1908 team and the 2016 champs in a 20 game round robin play in series. The final standings couldn’t be much closer:
1907 Cubs: 11-9
2016 Cubs: 10-10
1908 Cubs: 9-11The '07 Cubs were arguably the least likely team to get through of the three teams and the difference came down to one epic extra inning game.
In Game Six of their series with the 2K16 Cubs, the '07 Cubs held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 8th. Orval Overall had only allowed three hits and struck out nine when Kris Bryant doubled with two outs and no one one. Anthony Rizzo followed with a two run blast to tie the game. It looked like the '07 Cubs would win in the 12th when Aroldis Chapman gave up a RBI single to Harry Steinfeldt which drove in Frank Chance who had doubled. However, Tommy LaStella countered with a pinch hit homerun off Ed Reulbach to retie the game at three apiece. Pedro Strop put on a show in the 13th and 14th innings, striking out five of the '07 Cubs, but the 2K16 Cubs could not take advantage of a much thinner bullpen; Blaine Durban (a D grade pitcher) pitched four scoreless innings to get the win in the 17th inning when Henry Zimmerman hit a sacrifice fly that scored…Durban(!) who had singled earlier in the inning. The '07 Cubs went on to win 7 out of 10 against the 2K16 Cubs who in turn defeated the '08 Cubs 7 out of 10 games. That one 17 inning odyssey ultimately made the difference.
To say that hitting and scoring runs were at a premium would be a gross understatement. 10 shutouts were tossed in this series. Every team was held to under three runs scored a game. Many games had near no hitters going into the sixth and seventh innings. Overall no hit the 2K16 Cubs in the last game for the '07 squad. Andres Cantor’s voice rang in my head whenever a run was scored, much less when a home run was hit.
The 2K16 Cubs hit an incomprehensible .128 as a team in 20 games. There was just no break against any of the '07 or '08 starting pitchers (three A+C grades, 5 A grades). 50 of their 80 hits (63%) were extra base hits, including 18 HRs. To put that in perspective, the 2003 Boston Red Sox had a major league record 659 extra base hits which was 40% of their hit total. 2K16’s 18 homers was more than twice the combined total from the '07 and '08 squads (7). Bryant had six home runs by himself. Rizzo “led” the team in hitting at .192. They got great pitching from their staff, often with unfulfilling results; Jon Lester had a 1.40 ERA in six starts and Jake Arrieta compiled a 1.55 ERA in four starts; they combined for two wins. Chapman picked up six saves in his seven appearances.
The '08 Cubs hit .201 as a team and scored the most runs (57) of the three teams. They also had the lowest team ERA at 2.00 which makes it odd that they had the worst record of the three teams. After winning six of ten against the '07 squad they dropped seven of 10 to the 2K16 team. '08 Frank Chance was the top hitter of all the teams in the series at .270 and stole seven bases, scoring nine runs. Andy Coakley somehow earned no wins despite a 1.47 ERA in six starts.
The '07 Cubs finished with the best record despite having the “highest” team ERA at 2.49. Johnny Kling led the team in hitting at .253 with two homers and 10 RBI. He had a knack for clutch hits. Overall was the best pitcher in a sea of great pitching: 2-0, 1.33 ERA in six starts, 0.79 WHIP.
In a battle between early 20th century baseball built on suffocating pitching, running the bases, and moving the runners one base at a time and 21st century baseball built on power and more power, one team skated by the rest because of one 17 inning game.
The next series will be between the five Cincinnati Reds championship teams representing four decades (1919, 1940, 1975, 1976, and 1990). The team that benefited from the Black Sox scandal, the team that interrupted the Yankees four year championship streak, the Big Red Machine, and the team that stopped the Oakland A’s before they were supposed to become a dynasty.
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Great job. Wow, that .128 batting average reminds me of MY career.
As I like to tell my kid, “One year, I was batting .150 after 30 games… THEN I went into a slump.” :joy: -
@RandySteinman LOL. If you did that today you could probably still be a millionaire! How did you seed the teams for your knockout tournament?
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@ncord I seeded 128 GTOP teams in order of season winning percentage… 50 World Series champions first (#1 to #50) , followed by 49 Pennant Winners (#51 to #99), followed by 29 others (#100 to #128).
For fun, I tossed in 1914 Federal League champion Indianapolis as the 128th seed. The Hoosiers then stunned the top-seeded '09 Pirates in the tournament opener. -
In the battle of the Cincinnati Reds franchises, the Big Red Machine teams of 1975 and 1976 laid waste to the teams from 1990, 1940, and 1919, and it wasn’t until the 10th inning of the ninth game of the series between the two teams until the '76 Reds outlasted the '75 machine to make it into the Greatest National League. Here are the final standings of the play in games.
1976 Reds: 24-16
1975 Reds: 23-17
1940 Reds:19-21
1919 Reds: 19-21
1990 Reds: 15-25The '76 Reds won each of their series against the '40 and '19 squads 6-4 and destroyed the '90 bunch, winning nine of 10 games! The '75 team won six of ten against the '40 squad but merely split their series against the '19 and '90 teams. In the final showdown of the Big Red Machine teams, the '75 squad had to win eight games. Incredibly, they came close, winning six of the first seven games before the '76 Reds won the next two to clinch the berth.
The 1-4 hitters on the '76 Machine, Pete Rose, Ken Griffey, Joe Morgan, and George Foster, were awesome. Morgan scored 32 runs, while Rose, Griffey, and Foster tallied 31 runs scored; all four projected to score over 100 runs for a full season. Morgan made the most of his .259 average with 25 RBI and 21 steals. Griffey hit .309, also drove in 25 and stole 18 bases. Foster was by far the best player of all five teams, hitting .324, 12 HRs, and 42 RBI, a pace of 44 homers and 156 RBI over a full season. Don Gullett won five of his eight starts with a 2.07 ERA. Gary Nolan won four starts with a 2.12 ERA and a WHIP of 0.99. Rawly Eastwick chalked up two wins and nine saves in 12 appearances with a 1.93 ERA.
The '75 Reds didn’t hit quite as well as the '76 team but better than the rest of the teams in the play in games. Rose hit .294, 45 points better than '76 Rose, but only scored 21 runs. The strength of the '75 Reds was in their pitching. Gullett dominated most of his starts (6-1, 1.64 ERA, 0.78 WHIP). Jack Billingham won five of his eight starts with a 2.46 ERA.
The 1940 Reds only had one regular (Frank McCormick .232) hit over .200. Paul Derringer anchored the pitching staff with a 7-4 record, 1.81 ERA and 0.70 WHIP.
The 1919 Reds had a harder time winning against teams that weren’t throwing games. Edd Roush hit .315, but no one else hit over .250 and they averaged only two and a half runs scored a game. Dutch Reuther, Hod Eller, and Slim Sallee had ERAs 2.20 or lower.
The 1990 Reds were competitive with everyone but the '76 Big Red Machine. Bill Doran (.280, 11 steals, 24 runs scored) was by far their most consistent offensive player. Jose Rijo (2.93 ERA) and Jack Armstrong (4-4, 2.96 ERA) were solid in their starts while Danny Jackson (2-5, 7.81 ERA) got his ass kicked in just about every start.
The next play in series will be between the Dodgers franchises of 1955, 1959, 1963, 1965,1981, 1988, and 2020. I didn’t realize that they moved to Los Angeles as early as they did (1958) thus the '55 champs were the only ones from Brooklyn with no shortage of star power with Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges and an aging Jackie Robinson. The '59 Dodgers were anchored by Hodges and Snider along with 22 year old Don Drysdale. 23 year old Sandy Koufax wasn’t as impressive that year but was SANDY KOUFAX on the '63 and '65 teams. Rock star starting pitching continued in the '80s with Fernando Mania (Fernando Valenzuela in 1981) and Orel Hershiser seemingly winning the 1988 World Series by himself, with a little help by Kirk Gibson doing something that nobody could believe what they just saw. I’m not sure how I feel about the 2020 pandemic Dodgers being involved, but they earned their shot, albeit with a lot fewer games.
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@ncord Very fun stuff - look forward to hearing how the Dodgers play out
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@NailsEastNashville Thanks! I have to say I’m rooting against the 2020 team since they didn’t play anything close to a full season, but they are going to be formidable.
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In the battle of the seven Dodger champions, the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers emerged as the best despite furious charges by the 2020 pandemic Dodgers and the 1955 bums from Brooklyn. Here were the final standings.
LA 1963: 37-23
LA 2020: 35-25
BRK 1955: 34-26
LA 1981: 33-27
LA 1965: 31-29
LA 1959: 23-37
LA 1988: 17-43The '63 Dodgers only hit .223 as a team, but in this pitching rich field of competition, they had the best team average and thus the most balanced of the Dodger teams. Frank Howard was the MVP of the play in season, hitting .264, 22 HR and 58 RBI. Maury Wills stole 26 bases and scored 35 runs. The '63 version of Sandy Koufax was the best one; 13-5, 1.60 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and 160 strikeouts in just 146 1/3 innings. Don Drysdale was no slouch: 10-6, 1.72 ERA, 0.77 WHIP. Close Ron Perranoski led a thin bullpen with 10 saves and a 1.69 ERA.
The 2020 Dodgers looked scary on paper. Two grade A starting pitchers, about 100 B grade or higher pitchers in the bullpen, eight of the nine regulars with a 1 at 66; four players with a 1 at 11 and 66. How could this team lose to anybody? I was not looking forward to seeing a team that only played…60 games(!) earn a berth into The Greatest National League. The real 2020 Dodgers steamrolled their way through to a 43-17 record. This team played .500 ball through 50 games before they spanked the 1988 Dodgers 10 straight games. A.J. Pollock (.320, 24 HR, 48 RBI), Will D. Smith (25 HR, 50 RBI, 41 runs scored), Corey Seager (.266, 15 HR), and Mookie Betts (.257, 17 HR, 16 SBs, 41 runs scored) were a relentless murderers row. Both Pollock and Smith had an OPS over 1. Tony Gonsolin (12-4, 1.66 ERA, 0.68 WHIP) was money on the mound. Clayton Kershaw ( 2.51 ERA , 0.88 WHIP) had a lot of hard luck starts and their other two starters Dustin May and Julio Urias were erratic. Victor Gonzalez saved 11 games with a 2.05 ERA.
Brooklyn was the only team not to have a starter with an A grade, but Don Newcombe ( 13-3, 2.43 ERA, 0.92 WHIP) played like one. He was good at the plate as well, hitting .269, two HRs, and 11 RBI in 53 ABs. The trio of Clem Labine, Roger Craig, and Don Bessent made up for spotty starting pitching with a combined 6-5 record, 10 saves, and a 2.35 ERA in 92 innings. Roy Campanella hit .250 with 25 HRs and 47 RBI to lead the offense. Duke Snider hit a disappointing .206 with 16 HRs and 40 RBI.
The 1981 Dodgers were carried by their starting pitching. All four starters (Fernando Valenzuela, Burt Hooton, Jerry Reuss, and Bob Welch) had ERAs under 3. No one had a more roller coaster play in season than Valenzuela who gave up only three earned runs in his first 49 innings pitched, then gave up 11 HRs in three starts against Brooklyn. Overall he had a 2.34 ERA but surrendered 18 HRs in 17 starts. Hooton (10-5, 2.24 ERA) was their most consistent starter. The '81 Dodgers did not sustain offense often; Pedro Guerrero led the team in HRs with 8 and RBI with 36 while only hitting .223.
The 1965 Dodgers problems with scoring runs can be summed up with these stats: Maury Wills stole an incredible 52 bases but only scored 32 runs. The '65 versions of Koufax and Drysdale did not fare as well as their '63 counterparts. Koufax finished just 7-8 with a 2.17 ERA. Drysdale went 6-9 with a 3.42 ERA. He gave up 17 HRs in his 18 starts. Similar to the '81 team, the '65 Dodgers lacked power; Lou Johnson led the team in HRs with 7.
The 1959 Dodgers did not have a regular hit over .250. The '59 version of Snider was equally as disappointing as the Brooklyn version: .227, 12 HRs, 30 RBI. Gil Hodges hit a lowly .189 with 15 HR. The '59 Drysdale (5-9, 2.57 ERA) was a hard luck starter while Roger Craig (4-11, 3.41 ERA) was by far the worst grade A starting pitcher. Koufax was awful (3-8, 5.63 ERA).
The 1988 Dodgers were grossly overmatched by most of the other teams. They only hit .184 as a team. Mike Marshall only hit .225, but he had a knack of driving in runs; he had 45 RBI on 14 HRs and missed five games with injuries; the next highest RBI total was Kirk Gibson with 18. Orel Hershiser (2.73 ERA) and John Tudor (2.42 ERA) combined for just a 6-20 record.
One other tidbit that made me laugh; catcher John Roseboro played for three of the teams (1959, 1963, and 1965). He was John on the '59 and '65 teams but Johnny on the '63 team.
The next play in season will decide who will represent the New York/San Francisco Giants from 1905, 1921, 1922, 1933, 1954, 2010, 2012, and 2014. Christy Mathewson leads the '05 Giants. I hope Moonlight Graham with his 1 AB gets a card (check out Field of Dreams if you don’t get the reference). The '21 and '22 Giants were all about their hitting with .300 hitters galore. The '33 Giants were led by Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell. The '54 Giants featured a monster season from WIllie Mays. The 2K Giant teams, offer the brilliance of Buster Posey in front of and behind the plate and the steady arm of Madison Bumgarner.
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Eight Giant franchises from New York and San Francisco battled it out in a 70 game play in season for a berth in The Greatest National League. In the end, the 1905 New York Giants eclipsed the 1907 Chicago Cubs as the oldest franchise to earn their spot among the best of the best National League teams. Here were the final standings.
1905 NY: 53-17
1921 NY: 42-28
1922 NY: 41-29
1954 NY: 34-36
2012 SF: 31-39
1933 NY: 29-41
2010 SF: 26-44
2014 SF: 24-46The 1905 New York Giants scored the most runs (378), despite only hitting 16 HRs and had the best team ERA at 3.12. Christy Mathewson had an amazing 17-1 record, but while his 2.39 ERA was great, he was vulnerable at times as well, giving up 16 HRs. Red Ames provided the other half of the 1-2 punch with a 12-3 record and 2.67 ERA. Mike Donlin hit .326 with 52 RBI despite hitting zero homeruns! Roger Breshnahan scored 67 runs in the 68 games he played while hitting .296 with 26 stolen bases. These Giants stole 172 bases, constantly putting men in scoring position.
The 1921 and 1922 Giants finished second and third respectively with their relentless hitting. Irish Meusel hit .323 with 12 HRs and 44 RBI for the '21 Giants and .323 with 8 HR and 46 RBI for the '22 Giants. Ross Young hit .313 for the '21 Giants with 18 triples (!) and 55 runs scored. The 1922 version hit .342 with 29 doubles and 64 runs scored. George Kelly led both teams in HRs and RBI with 12 and 50 for the '21 squad and 10 and 59 for the '22 team. Both teams had one dependable starting pitcher. The '21 Giants were led by Jesse Barnes (9-7 2.71 ERA). The '22 Giants were paced by Art Nehf (13-6 2.45 ERA).
The 1954 Giants were too dependant on the brilliance of Willie Mays on offense. Mays hit .304 with 20 HRs, 46 RBI, 44 runs scored and a 1.064 OPS. Don Mueller hit ,333, but a lot of his hits were empty as he only tallied 21 RBI and 22 runs scored. Nobody else hit above .209. These Giants also only had one dependable starter; Johnny Antonelli went 12-6 with a 2.14 ERA. Closer Marv Grissom saved 14 games in 21 appearances.
None of the San Francisco teams fared well in the play in season. The 2012 team came the closest to making noise. They were 25-25 before losing 14 of their last 20 games. The 2K12 team hit .218 while the 2K10 team hit .211 and the 2K14 squad hit just .204. Buster Posey has been the biggest disappointment of all of the superstar players so far. His numbers for the 2K10-14 teams: .216, 10 HR, 41 RBI (2010), .233, 12 HR, 46 RBI (2012), .187, 14 HR, 36 RBI (2014).Aubrey Huff put up solid numbers for the 2K10 team, hitting .268 with 13 HR and 41 RBI. Angel Pagan was a force for the 2K12 squad, hitting .290 with 45 runs scored and was the only player on the 2K14 team to hit .250; no one had a higher average. The 2K10 team had the highest team ERA at 4.05. Only four starting pitchers from all three teams combined had ERAs under 4. The best was Ryan Vogelsong from the 2K12 Giants who earned a 8-3 record with a 2.04 ERA. All three teams had very deep bullpens that kept them in games, but the offenses were not strong enough to pull off come from behind wins, and the starters put them in a hole too many times.
The 1933 Giants had a putrid offense, barely scoring over three runs a game. Mel Ott was a major disappointment, hitting just .215 with 8 HR and 30 RBI. Their lack of offense hurt the strongest group of starting pitchers. Carl Hubbell (2.87), Hal Schumacher (2.59), and Freddie Fitzimmons (2.77) combined for a record of just 19-22. Hubbell was mysteriously ineffective for a grade A + C pitcher. He failed to get a win in his first 10 starts, gave up 14 HRs, and had an ERA as high as 3.31 at one point.
With the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks an automatic entry, the last spot will go to the winner of the play in season between the St, Louis Cardinals of 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, and 2011. Some of the hall of famers (and future hall of famers) that will compete include Rogers Hornsby,Frankie Frisch, Dizzy Dean, Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Lou Brock, Curt Flood, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, Albert Pujols, and Yadier Molina.
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11 teams from the St. Louis Cardinals franchise battled for the right to earn their spot in the Greatest National League. After 1,100 games, the 1942 Cardinals came out on top with a 64-36 record. Below are the final standings:
- 1942 Cardinals 64-36
- 1982 Cardinals 56-44
- 1944 Cardinals 51-49
- 1934 Cardinals 51-49
- 1931 Cardinals 51-49
- 1926 Cardinals 50-50
- 1946 Cardinals 50-50
- 1964 Cardinals 47-53
- 2011 Cardinals 46-54
- 1967 Cardinals 42-58
- 2006 Cardinals 42-58
The 1942 Cardinals offense was carried by Stan Musial. “The Man” led the Cards in average (.288), home runs (11), RBI (71), OPS (.868), runs scored (69), and stolen bases (12). Ironically, Musial hit even better for the 1944 and 1946 Cardinals teams. Musial hit .326 with 10 HRs, 54 RBI and a .977 OPS for the '44 Cards and .339, 61 RBI, and a .931 OPS for the '46 Cards. The two biggest reasons for the '42 Cardinals success came from the 1-2 punch of Mort Cooper and Johnny Beazley at the top of the rotation. Cooper finished 17-7 with a 2.22 ERA (lowest of all of the Cardinal pitchers) and 0.83 WHIP while Beazley was 18-8 with a 2.72 ERA and 0.87 WHIP.
Johnny Hopp of the 1944 Cardinals was the top hitter at .346. Frankie Frisch of the 1931 Cardinals was the top run scorer with 78 to go with a .273 average and 31 stolen bases. Albert Pujols of the 2006 Cardinals hit 39 home runs, 13 more than the second highest slugger. He also tied for first in RBI with 88. The best overall hitter was Rip Collins of the 1934 Cardinals. Rip lived up to his name by finishing 5th in hitting at .321, second in runs scored with 76, second in home runs with 26 (along with Lance Berkman of the 2011 Cardinals), first in RBI with Pujols at 88, and first in OPS at 1.052.
There were many outstanding pitchers in the play in season. Dizzy Dean of the 1934 Cardinals tied Beazley in wins with 18 (against 7 losses) to go with a 2.47 ERA. Bruce Sutter of the 1982 Cardinals pitched in the most saves with 28 with a 2.57 ERA. Bill Hallahan of the 1931 Cardinals had the most strikeouts, 167 in 224 2/3 innings while compiling a 9-14 record and a 3.20 ERA. Howie Pollet of the 1946 Cardinals had the lowest WHIP at 0.81 to go with a 12-9 record with a 2.41 ERA.
Now that the 1942 Cardinals are in, here are the list of teams in the Greatest National League:
1905 New York Giants
1907 Chicago Cubs
1942 St. Louis Cardinals
1957 Milwaukee Braves
1963 Los Angeles Dodgers
1969 New York Mets
1976 Cincinnati Reds
1979 Pittsburgh Pirates
1980 Philadelphia Phillies
1997 Florida Marlins
2001 Arizona Diamondbacks
2019 Washington NationalsThe teams will be organized into two divisions and play a 154 game season. I will continue to use this forum to update the regular season games. Finally, I will be creating a new forum to see which teams will make up the Greatest American League.
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The first week of the regular season in the Greatest National League is finished. Here are the standings.
East Division1905 New York Giants 5-1
1980 Philadelphia 4-2
1969 New York Mets 4-2
2019 Washington 3-3
1979 Pittsburgh 2-4
1997 Florida 2-4Central/West Division1907 Chicago 4-2
1942 St. Louis 3-3
1957 Milwaukee 3-3
1963 Los Angeles 2-4
2001 Arizona 2-4
1976 Cincinnati 2-4The 1905 Giants scored 45 runs in their six games; they scored 10 or more runs in two games, a 15-6 beatdown of the 1963 Dodgers and a wild 10-9 win over the 1976 Reds. First baseman Dan McGann went off, hitting .538 with three home runs and 15 RBI. Left fielder Mike Donlin was white hot at the plate as well; he hit .522 and scored 10 runs. Christy Mathewson won both of his starts with a 2.50 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 18 innings. Steve Carlton of the 1980 Phillies and Alex Fernandez of the 1997 Marlins also won their first two starts; Carlton with a 1.50 ERA and Fernandez with a 1.06 ERA.