1950 Fantasy Astrology Recap
View the 1950 FABL Lineups Here!
Here’s a sobering fact: in the 1950 Astrology Baseball Classic, the Gemini pitchers would have had to bat for themselves. This isn’t because the Designated Hitter wasn’t established in the Major Leagues until the 1970’s – if you recall, I use historical precedent to justify using the DH for my fantasy lineups long before it became official. No, the reason the 1950 Twins had to send their pitchers to the plate… is that there were only eight (8!) Gemini MLB position players in 1950. And one of them ended the season with a negative fantasy point total.
We’re still two years away from the last season of the Negro Leagues (at least according to stats on Baseball Reference), so we’re in for at least one more season of this drought. And who knows, it very well might continue further. I’m envisioning a “rich get richer” scenario where all the best Negro Leaguers share the signs of the best AL/NL stars, and we end up with EVEN MORE powerful versions of Leo and Scorpio, while the Geminis and Cancers of the world continue to languish. But only time will tell.
As far as the top teams of 1950, Leo jumped back into first place, extending their lead of points titles to 15. (Scorpio and Aries are next with 13 and 12 wins, respectively). 1950 was also the first (reverse-chronological) year where the cuspiness of Hall of Fame third baseman George Kell (2,397 / 15.3) looms large. I’ve done the math, and the Lions would still have won the league, even if Kell was switched to Virgo, but it’s significant when your team points leader would have had a different sun sign if he were born in any other year. Not that Leo lacked for offensive firepower: Sid Gordon, Johnny Groth, Willie Jones, and Negro League veteran (but AL “rookie”) Luke Easter all surpassed 2,000 points. On the mound, Vern Bickford (2,138 / 53.5) of the Braves pitched the most innings in MLB, and Tigers ace Art Houtteman (2,034 / 49.6) followed him with an All-Star season.
I mentioned Scorpio above, as one of the two powerhouses of the Fanasy Astrology Baseball League during this time period, but it was actually Pisces who stormed ahead with the Water Division lead in 1950. Now, the Fish only win if you ignore the fact that they didn’t have a qualified shortstop, but third baseman Johnny Pesky (1,714 / 13.5) played a lot of shortstop in his career. But it was a pair of Rookies who led the charge: Cleveland third baseman Al Rosen (2,433 / 15.7) and former Negro League star Monte Irvin (1,443 / 13.1), who was the top eligible Pisces first baseman. The pitching staff was quite top-heavy, with only two hurlers breaking 1,000 points… and they each got to 2,000: Brooklyn co-ace Preacher Roe (2,095 / 58.2) and Phillies closer Jim Konstanty (2,243 / 30.3), who won the National League MVP award for revolutionizing the use of relief pitchers.
Scorpio was once again built around its incredible offense, with Red Sox shortstop Vern Stephens (2,669 / 17.9) joining the usual duo of Ralph Kiner (2,659 / 17.7) and Stan Musial (2,632 / 18.0) – in fact, I could see an argument that all three should share the Negative MVP. But consistency was the name of the game for the Stingers: even accounting for positional eligibility, no Scorpio batter scored fewer than 1,500 points on the year! Pitching was another story, as only a diminished Bob Feller (1,772 / 50.6) broke that number among Scorpio arms.
Pisces was not the only sign fueled by rookies in 1950. In fact, their neighbor on the Zodiac Wheel, Aquarius, had the Rookie of the Year award winners in both real-life leagues! First baseman Walt Dropo (2,536 / 18.6) had the best season among Water Bearers, while Braves center fielder Sam Jethroe (2,020 / 14.3), another “rookie” from the Negro Leagues, solidifies the top of their lineup. Of course, Jackie Robinson (2,158 / 15.0) has the highest recognition factor among 1950 Aquarians, but a pair of Tigers – Vic Wertz (2,426 / 16.3) and Hoot Evers (2,287 / 16.0) – provided plenty of lineup stability. After ace Allie Reynolds (1,685 / 48.1), top Positive primary reliever Erv Palica (1,543 / 35.9) was pressed into duty as a starter, given his 19 games spent in Brooklyn’s rotation.
That leaves Taurus as the final division winner, with the usual suspects of Yogi Berra (2,568 / 17.0) and Warren Spahn (2,548 / 62.1) leading the way. It’s also worth mentioning that Sal Maglie (1,993 / 42.4) led the majors in ERA and shutouts… even though he only started 16 of his 47 appearances on the year. While I name-checked Cancer as one of the FABL bottom-feeders of this time period, it’s curious that Crabs pitcher Larry Jansen (2,688 / 67.2) scored the most points in the league in 1950. On the other side of the aisle, Libra Robin Roberts (2,653 / 66.3) once again paced all Positive pitchers in points. And to round out the major award winners, Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio (2,555 / 18.4) led all Positive batters, while leading Sagittarius to a 9th place finish.