1954 Fantasy Astrology Recap
View the 1954 FABL Lineups Here!
My obsession with filling bullpen spots with dedicated relievers really played havoc with the 1954 Fantasy Astrology Baseball League standings. Of all such pitchers in ’54 (primary relievers who made less than five starts in a given season), only three were Scorpios… and two of those three had negative fantasy point totals! To be clear, for my “official” standings, I will include any pitcher with more relief appearances than starts in a bullpen slot - I only apply this limitation when claculating alternate lineups that follow all positional eligibility rules. But the difference is striking: the Stingers finished in first place in the league while following the looser guidelines, but they fall all the way to fifth when eligibility rules are followed.
What’s even crazier about this piece of trivia is that Scorpio ends up as the top-scoring Water sign, even with zero points from their three relief pitcher slots. A murderer’s row of Stan Musial (2,874 / 18.8), Gus Bell (2,152 / 14.1), and Ralph Kiner (1,920 / 13.1) was the main reason, but it helps that Pisces and Cancer finished 10th and 11th overall, regardless of positional eligibility rules. There’s also ace pitcher Mike Garcia (2,682 / 59.6), who had 11 relief appearances himself for the AL champion Cleveland club, which continues to show how completely the philosophy surrounding pitcher usage has changed over the decades.
Taurus finished second overall (or first, if positional eligibility rules are followed), thanks to the presence of both real-life league MVP award winners: Giants center fielder Willie Mays (2,856 / 18.9), and Yankees catcher Yogi Berra (2,219 / 14.7), who would win the award again the following season. I found it especially interesting that even though Mays’s Giants won the World Series – thanks in no small part to his famous over the shoulder catch – the Say Hey Kid started the majority of his 1954 games in the sixth spot in the batting order. On the pitching side Virgil Trucks (2,491 / 62.3) and Warren Spahn (2,438 / 62.5) served as the Bulls’ co-aces.
The top pitcher in all of MLB in 1954 was Robin Roberts (3,335 / 74.6), who also served as the Phillies’ most used option at closer. Roberts would likely have won the Cy Young Award, which was not invented until 1956. However, he did start the All-Star game for the National League, while his Libra sign-mate Whitey Ford (1,910 / 56.2) had that honor in the AL. On the offensive side, the tandem of Eddie Mathews (2,455 / 17.8) and Mickey Mantle (2,439 / 16.7) was enough to catapult the Scales into the Air Division lead, despite the emergence of two legendary Aquarius rookies: Ernie Banks (1,660 / 10.8) and Henry Aaron (1,398 / 11.5).
The last division winner is Aries, who took the Fire Division behind newly-acquired Giants ace Johnny Antonelli (2,746 / 70.4), Dodgers slugging first baseman Gil Hodges (2,605 / 16.9), real-life NL Rookie of the Year Wally Moon (2,118 / 14.0), and Mexican-born batting title winner Bobby Avila (2,055 /14.4). The Rams also had three dedicated closers, which was a rarity in the mid-1950’s, more than a decade before Saves became an official stat. They were Marv Grissom (1,662 / 29.7) of the Giants, Jim Hughes (1,464 / 24.4) of the Dodgers, and Frank Smith (1,313 / 26.3) of the Cincinnati… let me finish: Redlegs.
For all the great players we’ve covered so far, we still haven’t reached either of the Astrology League MVP’s. The top-scoring batter in the sport was Virgo center fielder Duke Snider (2,941 / 19.7), who pairs with #3 overall Ted Kluszewski (2,868 / 19.2) and the legendary Ted Williams (2,258 / 19.3) for a 1-2-3 that’s unmatched by any other sign in the league. In the Positive Polarity, Sagittarius left fielder Minnie Minoso (2,619 / 17.1) takes the crown, pairing with Larry Doby (2,261 / 14.8) for a very strong offensive top end. And the Negative Polarity’s best pitcher was Capricorn Early Wynn (2,780 / 69.5), who along with Mike Garcia and Virgo Bob Lemon (2,410 / 66.9), led Cleveland to an American League pennant.