1996 Astrology Awards Recap
View the 1996 FABL Lineups Here!
The 1996 season marks somewhat of a milestone: it was the first in a run of 24 consecutive full 162-game MLB seasons (sometimes we even got 163, thanks to one-game tiebreakers). That streak of course ended in 2020 with the COVID-shortened 60 game season. But it began in 1996 due to a players’ strike abbreviating both the 1994 and ’95 campaigns. Which means this is a perfect stopping point for my brief hiatus, which I talked about in my last post.
The top headline news item for 1996 is that Virgo scored the most fantasy points in the league, the first time we’ve seen the Maidens accomplish that task in the scope of this project. (Back then, Virgo would have still used the politically incorrect nickname, rather than the more generic Ladybugs, or the ironic Playaz.) They accomplished this task in large part due to Negative Polarity co-MVP’s Ellis Burks (3,267 / 20.9) and Albert Belle (3,140 / 19.9) in the outfield. Of those two, Burks had not only the better statistical season, but also the more upstanding personal record: at least he didn’t wing a baseball at a journalist in the stands, as Belle did. The Positive Polarity also had two sign-mates whose numbers were so similar that I would have them share MVP honors: Leos Barry Bonds (3,229 / 20.4) and Alex Rodriguez (3,032 / 20.8), the same two who would go on to share the PP MVP award in 2002. Not coincidentally, the Lions finished second in overall fantasy points in ’96.
I want to spend some time going over the runners-up, in an effort to more completely cover the top fantasy players in each season. Behind Burks and Belle in the NP, we have… the entire Scorpio outfield. Ken Griffey Jr. (2,940 / 21.0), Gary Sheffield (2,929 / 18.2), and Dante Bichette (2,800 / 17.6) didn’t technically finish 3-4-5 in NP offensive points (Sheffield and Bichette were separated by Capricorn Brady Anderson (2,865 / 19.2) in his 50-homer season), but it’s curious to see so much talent clustered together in the same signs. This concept is taken a step further by Gemini in the PP, who had a trifecta of right-handed hitting first basemen: Andres Galarraga (2,892 / 18.2), Mo Vaughn (2,878 / 17.9), and Jeff Bagwell (2,852 / 17.6), Frank Thomas (2,789 / 19.8). I’ve racked my brain about ways to fit all three of these sluggers into the same lineup, but the best I could come up with is a three-player rotation between 1B and DH.
The Negative Polarity had the only pitcher with more than 3,000 points in 1996 - Taurus ace John Smoltz (3,133 / 89.5) – who also won the real-life National League Cy Young Award. Smoltz’s Positive Polarity counterpart Greg Maddux (2,471 / 70.6) won the PP CYA for Aries, but the two were real-life teammates on the NL champion Braves. In between those two, statistically speaking, was Pisces Kevin Brown, who led the pitching staff of the real-life Marlins after signing as a free agent over the preceding offseason.
Since we’re going reverse-chronologically, we know that Trevor Hoffman (2,483 / 35.5) would defend his Positive Polarity Reliable Reliever title for the next two years, through the 1998 season. There were only three other relievers with 2,000+ fantasy points in 1996, and the PP had two of them: Mark Wohlers (2,090 / 27.1) for Aquarius and Robb Nen (2,086 / 27.2) for Sagittarius. The last was Scorpio Roberto Hernandez (2,075 / 28.8), who would go on to win the Negative Polarity RR award the year after Hoffman’s streak ended (1999).
Sticking with the Negative Polarity, their 1996 rookies were much stronger overall than those in the Positive Polarity, with two Cancer Crabs shortstops in particular standing above the rest. Derek Jeter (1,908 / 12.2) and Mark Grudzielanek (1,879 / 12.3) were so close in ’96 production that it’s tempting to have them share the award. But in a season where we already have not one, but TWO shared MVP’s, and also given Jeter’s overall career track, I think it’s safe to give this one to Cap’n Jeets. We don’t get a Positive Polarity rookie until Aquarius outfielder Marvin Benard (1,306 / 9.7), and while he technically has the most points, Gemini first baseman and current executive director of the MLB players’ union Tony Clark (1,258 / 12.6) had better per-game production. What the heck, I’m calling an audible and having all four players share the Rookie of the Year awards this season!
As I mentioned previously, I’ll be stepping away from the blog for a couple of weeks for a much needed summer vacation. But stay tuned to the Twitter and Instagram feeds for some cool pics and #BornOnThisDate facts!