1958 Fantasy Astrology Recap
View the 1958 FABL Lineups Here!
In the 10-year stretch from 1958 to 1967, only two signs led the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League in point totals. Leo had a seven-to-three advantage over Libra, but the 1958 season went to the Scales, the only sign to score as many as 25,000 points on the year. What’s more, Leo didn’t even make the playoffs that year, falling just behind Sagittarius in the Fire Division. And of course we have one disputed division winner, due to positional eligibility concerns, but we’ll get to that later.
Libra’s 1958 roster was built around two Yankees, who each technically finished second in their respective awards balloting. Center fielder Mickey Mantle (2,726 / 18.2) should share the Positive Polarity MVP award with Aquarius shortstop Ernie Banks (2,800 / 18.2), given their identical points-per-game averages. Meanwhile, Whitey Ford (2,400 / 80.0) just barely trailed Aries ace Billy Pierce (2,432 / 69.5) in full-season points, but The Chairman of the Board got to his total in five fewer games. Joining Ford in the Libra rotation is Phillies ace Robin Roberts (2,160 / 61.7), who finished fifth in Positive Pole points for pitchers.
As would be the case in 1959, two Taurus Bulls would win the major awards in the Negative Polarity – the same two Taurus Bulls, in fact. Giants center fielder Willie Mays (2,901 / 19.1) continued his (reverse-chronological) stretch of seven MVP awards in eight seasons. Meanwhile, Warren Spahn (2,670 / 70.3) was once again the NP’s best pitcher. However, not even the heroics of those two could push Taurus to the lead in the Earth Division… that is, as long as you’re willing to play fast and loose with some positional eligibility rules.
The 1958 Virgo Flowers had a very strong top end, including the AL Cy Young Award winner Bob Turley (2,399 / 72.7). Also Virgos: the Rookies of the Year in both real-life leagues – first baseman Orlando Cepeda (2,148 / 14.5) and center fielder Albie Pearson (1,237 / 8.5). Plus, they got 2,000-point seasons from the legendary duo of Frank Robinson (2,056 / 13.9) and Ted Williams (2,009 / 15.6) in his last year of Fantasy Astrology relevance. The problem is finding players for third base and shortstop. Both Robinson and rookie Ken Aspromonte (485 / 4.9) had between 10 and 20 games at the hot corner – not enough to officially qualify, but definitely justifiable. However, not a single Virgo player had as many as 10 games at shortstop in 1958. Without any points there, Taurus jumps into the lead.
At least the Water and Fire Divisions each had undisputed winners. Scorpio enjoyed a strong pitching performance from Lew Burdette (2,384 / 59.6) – Spahn’s real life Milwaukee Braves teammate – and offensive contributions from Roy Sievers (2,193 / 14.8) and Stan Musial (1,752 / 13.0), also in his last year of Fantasy Astrology relevance. Meanwhile, pitching was the name of the game for Sagittarius, as the Archers had three 2,000-pointers in their rotation: former Negro Leaguer Sam Jones (2,295 / 65.6), Chicago AL’s Dick Donovan (2,046 / 60.2), and Bob Friend (2,045 / 53.8) of the Pirates.
While Leo didn’t start their playoff run until 1959, they did sport the other two award winners in the Positive Polarity. Mudcat Grant (1,423 / 32.3), starter for Cleveland, was the PP’s top rookie, while Dick Hyde (1,732 / 32.7), of the AL’s original Washington Senators, won the Reliable Reliever award. The Negative Pole’s RR trophy is a bit trickier. Capricorn Stu Miller (1,587 / 38.7) was technically a primary reliever, but by the slimmest of margins: he started 20 of his 41 appearances, for a 48.7% rate. If you want a dedicated reliever for the award, Pisces rookie Ryne Duren (1,501 / 34.1) was not far behind. But again, remember that saves were not an officially recorded statistic at the time – these fantasy point totals are calculated by retroactively determining games finished with a lead of three runs or less.