1986 Astrology Recap
View the 1986 FABL Lineups Here!
The 1986 World Series holds a special place in my heart, since it was the first one that took place in my lifetime. The fact that the Mets won just months after I was born into a family of Yankees fans, we’ll just chalk up to dramatic irony. In terms of he Fantasy Astrology Baseball League, 1986 had four clear-cut division winners – nothing like the two subsequent years where several of the leaders could go either way, depending on how strictly you want to stick to positional eligibility rules. So let’s see who might win in a final-four matchup between Scorpio, Taurus, Libra, and Aries.
While Taurus’s official lineup finished second to Scorpio in collective points, they did have the highest-scoring player in the league. Astros ace Mike Scott (3,488 / 94.3) also won the real-life NL Cy Young Award, many years before the American version of The Office would use a version of his name for the main character. The Bulls rotation also included Hall of Famer Jack Morris (2,659 / 76.0), the #4 scoring pitcher in the Negative Polarity. On the offensive side, Taurus was led by Don Mattingly (2,775 / 17.1), who finished second to Capricorn Rickey Henderson (2,963 / 19.4) in NP MVP balloting.
League-leading Scorpio had a player with a legitimate claim on two of the four major yearly awards. Blue Jays long relief specialist Mark Eichhorn (2,433 / 35.3) was not only the top-scoring reliever in the Negative Polarity, but also the number one rookie. I really have no justification for not naming him the winner of both Rookie of the Year and Reliable Reliever, other than to include the names of more players, so here are the runners-up in both categories. The next-highest-scoring NP rookie was Cancer corner outfielder Jose Canseco (2,059 / 13.1) – with Scorpio Danny Tartabull (1,763 / 12.9) behind him. Yet another Scorpio slots in as the number two NP reliever, although Scott Garrelts (1,845 / 34.8) started 18 of his 58 appearances in ’86.
I’ve already mentioned the Negative Polarity MVP and Cy Young Award winners, but Scorpions figured prominently in those races as well. Starters Fernando Valenzuela (2,736 / 80.5), Dwight Gooden (2,595 / 78.6), and Teddy Higuera (2,511 / 73.9) finished third, fifth, and sixth in NP pitching points, respectively. And top Scorpio batter, outfielder Jesse Barfield (2,402 (15.2), finished sixth among NP batters.
Positive Polarity MVP Eric Davis (2,474 / 18.7) would go on to defend his title in 1987, even though his Gemini Twins wouldn’t make the FABL playoffs in either year. In 1986 that honor went to Libra, the sign of the two PP MVP runners-up, George Bell (2,398 / 15.1), Mike Schmidt (2,381 / 14.9). The Scales also boasted the top Positive Polarity rookie, Cardinals closer Todd Worrell (2,099 / 28.4). In an interesting mirror image of the MVP balloting, the PP RoY runner-up was Gemini first baseman Wally Joyner (1,997 / 13.0). Although he was far out of the running, it’s also worth noting that 1986 was the rookie season of legendary Leo outfielder Barry Bonds (1,557 / 13.8).
The fact that Aries finished first in the Fire Division was truly a team effort, as the Rams lacked a true superstar. Starting pitchers Kirk McCaskill (2,246 / 66.1) and Bert Blyleven (2,210 / 61.4) finished sixth and seventh in points among PP starters, far behind Leo Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens (3,254 / 98.6), who also won both the real-life AL CYA and MVP awards. And as far as relief pitchers are concerned, Sagittarius is unequaled in their dominance. Not only did the Archers have Reliable Reliever winner Dave Righetti (2,444 / 33.0), but they also had five of the six top-scoring PP relief pitchers: Tom Henke (1,914 / 30.4), Roger McDowell (1,885 / 25.1), Lee Smith (1,834 / 27.8), and Steve Bedrosian (1,716 / 25.2). (The only exception was Libra Jeff Reardon (1,726 / 27.8).)
So who is my pick out of these four signs to win it all? It’s hard not to be a front-runner, given Scorpio’s pitching excellence. But do the Scorpions have the offensive firepower to compare with Taurus? I’ll leave the predictions to the Strat-o-Matic enthusiasts – because next time, I’m returning to my in-depth looks at 2021 with the Sagittarius Archers!