A blog analyzing Major League Baseball through the lens of Astrology
Welcome to Astrology Baseball, a project where I arrange MLB players into teams based on their astrological signs, and then pit those teams against each other in mock fantasy seasons.
FABL 2022 Average Player Ranks
Opening Day is just two days away, which means it’s time to finalize the rosters for the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League! I’ve already posted two preliminary rounds of this exercise: my first look was just the top 20 players (as ranked by MLB.com), while in the second go-round, I pushed it to the top 50. But this time, I just kept going down the list – all 800 ranked players – until I got full lineups, starting rotations, and two relief pitchers per sign!
All-Time Since 1980: Earth Division
Continuing the trend of my All-Time Since 1980 project, the Earth Division had the third-highest scoring sign when counting players in my database so far. As a reminder, the top sign was in the Water Division (Scorpio) and number two was a Fire Sign (Sagittarius). Read on to find out the identity of #3!
MLB.com Fantasy Rankings: Top 50
There are many different ways to evaluate baseball players, and they all have their merits depending on the situation. For building fantasy lineups before a season starts, it’s best to consult fantasy rankings. So I created a chart showing how the top 50 ranked players were distributed among the 12 Fantasy Astrology Signs.
All-Time Since 1980: Fire Division
My All-Time Since 1980 project continues with the Fire Division, home of the second-highest scoring sign of the last 40 years. If you want to see a full list of the signs’ total points, players, and some fun averages, check out my ATS80 hub post!
All-Acquired Teams: Post Lockout
The bifurcated nature of this year’s offseason creates an opportunity for TWO All-Acquired teams per league. MLB made a similar move during 1981, when the season itself was split in half due to a player’s strike, so it’s fitting that this dual All-Acquired situation is also due to a labor dispute.
All-Time Since 1980: Water Division
With a new decade’s worth of stats added to my All-Time Caeer Fantasy Points database, it’s time to see how these new players impact each sign’s All-Time rosters. Since Scorpio players scored the most points out of any sign in my database, I’m starting my All-Time Since 1980 breakdowns with the Water signs.
MLB.com Fantasy Rankings: First Look
The terms “positive” and “negative” have some pretty strong connotations in our society. However, when you look at the MLB.com fantasy rankings heading into 2022, it is actually better to be negative than positive: 7 of the top 10 ranked players are members of negative polarity signs.
All-Time Since 1980
I recently completed yearly recaps for every Fantasy Astrology season since 1980, closing the books on yet another decade. As I do with every such milestone, I have updated my All-Time Career Fantasy Points database, adding 537 players to the mix. If you’ll recall, players becomes eligible for the database if they make their sign’s starting lineup (or rotation, or bullpen) during a year in the decade in question.
Pisces Tarot: The Moon
Next Aries season will mark the one-year anniversary of this feature, but as of this post, I will have finished an examination of all twelve astrological signs. We end the trip around the karmic wheel with Pisces, the fish, and the most emotional sign of the zodiac. The planetary rulers of Pisces are Neptune and Jupiter, but despite those associations, the Tarot card linked with this sign is #18, The Moon.
1980 Fantasy Astrology Recap
Since we’re going reverse-chronologically through Fantasy Astrology Baseball League history, 1980 represents the end of the decade that goes from 1980 to 1989. And I’m very pleased to mark this milestone with a victory by the Cancer Crabs! This is the first time my home sign has won a fantasy points title since 2012 (reverse-chronologically speaking).
2021 Triple-A All-Stars
The start of 2022 Spring Training has officially been pushed back. And while negotiations have ramped up between the league and the players’ union, the MLB website still has no mention of active Major League players. So I thought I’d follow that example and look at the highest level of the minor leagues.
1981 Fantasy Astrology Recap
It’s appropriate to talk about the 1981 MLB season during the 2021-22 offseason, because both time periods are marked with labor disputes. The difference is, the 1981 work stoppage was the result of a player strike (not an owner’s lockout), which caused the cancellation of almost 40% of the season.
NL All-Acquired 2021-22
The National League’s newly acquired players top those of the American League by a fantasy point margin of almost 2,000 points (27,421 to 25,744). Even though my database only counts players added to Major League rosters, it’s a good starting point to see where things stand as the lockout approaches it’s third month.
1982 Fantasy Astrology Recap
Fans of the 2001 cult classic Wet Hot American Summer might know that the film was set in eastern Pennsylvania during the year 1982. So that means Coop, Katie, Beth and the gang might have watched the likes of Steve Carlton or Mike Schmidt during one of their action-packed trips into town.
AL All Acquired 2021-22
The MLB lockout brought offseason business to a grinding halt on December 1st 2021. But luckily for us Hot Stove enthusiasts, general managers around the league made no attempt to gently pump the brakes heading into that deadline, squeezing in almost a full offseason’s worth of transactions into a little under a month.
1983 Fantasy Astrology Recap
In 1983 the Negative Polarity far outshined the Positive Polarity in terms of Fantasy Astrology Baseball excellence. Furthermore, while the two NP division leaders were fairly clear cut, BOTH PP divisions were disputed, depending on how strictly you want to pay attention to positional eligibility rules.
Aquarius Tarot: The Star
The last Astrology/Tarot pairing that we covered involved one of the nastiest cards in the deck. For those following along at home, The Devil is followed directly by The Tower, another card that represents evil and ruin. But luckily for Aquarius, we’re skipping that one, and moving directly to a decidedly positive card: The Star.
1984 Fantasy Astrology Recap
The strongest connotations around 1984 are probably images of a dystopian future, conjured up by George Orwell’s novel named after the year. But the most surreal event of that year might have taken place in the Astrology Baseball space: Aquarius scored the most fantasy points in the Air Division over a full MLB season.
The Lockout
In a normal MLB offseason, we see a steady stream of news as teams maneuver to improve (or sell off assets) in preparation for the coming season. But this is not a normal MLB offseason, since the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union expired last December.
2021 Gemini Pitchers
It’s always nice to end a feature on a high note, and that’s what this Gemini pitching staff allows us to do. I know that’s somewhat surprising for a last place team, but with enough injuries and a weak enough offense, even a star-studded group of hurlers can end up in the bottom of the league.