1975 Fantasy Astrology Recap
View the 1975 FABL Lineups Here!
I’ve finally put together all 12 Astrology rosters on my copy of MLB The Show 2022 and started simulating a season! But I wanted to post one more year in my reverse chronological trip through FABL history, just so we can end with a nice round fifth year. (Remember, going in reverse order, 1979 to 1975 constitutes a five-year span.) 1975 was a monumental year in real-life as well, as it marked the beginning of the free agent era. But since players aren’t allowed to change their Astrology teams, let’s press on with the yearly recap.
The top-scoring sign in 1975 was a matter of some dispute, depending on how strictly you want to adhere to positional eligibility rules. Aries would have emerged as the unquestioned leader, were it not for a shortage of options at shortstop and in the bullpen, while Libra comes out on top when all lineups are “in compliance.” But before looking at the problem areas, let’s look at each contender’s top players, who mostly come from the pitching side.
1975 was a pitching-rich year, with 10 of the top 11 fantasy point scorers doing their work on the mound. But none was as impressive as Libra ace Jim Palmer (3,564 / 91.4), who led the American League in wins and strikeouts for Baltimore, en route to both the AL and Positive Polarity Cy Young Award. (He would win the next two PP CYA’s, and it’s too soon to tell how far his streak extends into the past.) Aries, on the other hand, had an abundance of pitching depth, boasting the #2, #4, and #6 scoring pitchers in the Positive Pole: Catfish Hunter (3,336 / 85.5, who was signed as a free agent by the Yankees prior to the season), Bert Blyleven (2,699 / 77.1) of the Twins, and Don Sutton (2,495 / 71.3) of the Dodgers. Sutton’s LA teammate Andy Messersmith (3,334 / 79.4), a Leo, is the third of a remarkable four 3,000-point pitchers in 1975.
Aries also had the Positive Polarity’s top (primary) relief pitcher, although Marty Pattin (1,492 / 33.9) started 15 of his 44 games for the Royals – hardly the workload of a dedicated bullpen weapon. The thing is, after Pattin, Tigers closer John Hiller (1,146 / 31.8), and Expos middle reliever Chuck Taylor (637 / 11.8), the best option to fill out the Rams’ pen is Detroit rookie Fernando Arroyo (260 / 18.6), who managed just 14 (but 53 innings) games in his rookie season. As far as shortstop is concerned, Cardinals second baseman Ted Sizemore (1,026 / 6.7) does have experience at the position – otherwise Aries would be stuck with another rookie: Mike Miley (309 / 4.4) for the Angels.
Libra also had their share of positional shenanigans, although all are either justifiable or inconsequential. I moved Al Oliver (1,875 / 12.1) to first base from his customary position of center field, but he would have had holdover eligibility based on the 49 games he played at first in 1974. Sticking to the rules would see catcher Gene Tenace (1,875 / 11.9) move to first base, with Brian Downing (1,119 / 8.1) taking over behind the plate. 1975 also saw slugging third baseman Mike Schmidt (2,341 / 14.8) play 10 games at shortstop, opening up the hot corner for Eric Soderholm (1,269 / 10.8) of the Twins. But the points difference between Soderholm and the top primary shortstop Freddie Patek (1,233 / 9.1) is so minimal that it’s almost not worth making this move.
Either way, the 1975 points leader is a break from a longtime trend (reverse-chronologically speaking), since the next time a Positive Pole sign would lead the league in fantasy points was 1988, when Leo took the crown. The intervening 12 years saw Scorpio lead the league seven times, and they once again came out on top in the Water Division in ’75. Their attack was led by the Negative Polarity (and real-life) CYA winner Tom Seaver (3,194 / 88.7), and the NP MVP runner-up Greg Luzinski (2,334 / 14.5). Luzinski lost out on the top batting award to Virgo Joe Morgan (2,899 / 19.9), who would also win the award in the following season, while taking his real-life Reds to a World Championship both years.
Jumping back to the Positive Polarity, Schmidt finished third among PP batters, with his signmate Rod Carew (2,289 / 16.0) in a close fourth place (in the last year the batting champ would actually qualify at second base, by the way). These two Libra infielders finished behind two Aquarians: first baseman John Mayberry (2,446 / 15.7) and center fielder Fred Lynn (2,353 / 16.2), the latter of whom won the real life AL MVP and Rookie of the Year with the Red Sox. In the world of Fantasy Astrology, Lynn would have to share the PP RoY with Gemini starting pitcher John Montefusco (2,355 / 67.3) who burst on the scene with 15 wins for the Giants.
The 1975 Red Sox had two outstanding rookie outfielders, and because of the organization of the FABL divisions, both of them get to take home some hardware. Pisces Jim Rice (2,026 / 14.1) earned the Negative Pole Rookie of the Year in ’75, before winning (or sharing) the NP MVP award each year from 1977 to ’79. No sign had as much relief dominance as the Cancer Crabs, as their bullpen includes the league leaders in saves from both real-life leagues: Rich Gossage (2,310 / 37.3) in the AL (Yankees) and Al Hrabosky (2,006 / 30.9) in the NL (Cardinals). In between those two Crabs closers was Virgo A’s legend Rollie Fingers (2,115 / 28.2).