1997 Astrology Awards Recap
View the 1997 FABL Lineups Here!
The 1997 season saw a couple of notable firsts: it was the first time a Wild Card team won the World Series (the Florida Marlins in seven games against Cleveland), and it was the first season to feature interleague play – which is now a regular feature, given the odd number of teams in each league. But speaking of teams in each league, 1997 was the LAST season with 28 teams in the majors, as Arizona and Tampa Bay got their new franchises starting in 1998. That means there were roughly 90 fewer players to fill out the teams in the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League than in later years, but we still saw some pretty impressive lineups in ’97.
No lineup was as impressive as Sagittarius, which scored the most overall points out of any sign. This achievement was thanks largely to Positive Polarity MVP (and real-life National League MVP) Larry Walker (3,484 / 22.8), who had the highest offensive point total until Barry Bonds’s home run record-breaking 2001 season. Before you assume that Walker’s league-leading 49 home runs and 1.172 OPS were aided by Coors Field, consider that he actually hit more homers and had a higher OPS on the road (29 and 1.176) than at home (20 and 1.169). The Negative Polarity MVP Ken Griffey Jr. (3,139 / 20.0) played for Scorpio, the runner-up in league-wide points in ’97, and the leader in the next three years. While 1997 saw Mark McGwire (2,572 / 16.5) join Babe Ruth as the only player to hit 50 home runs in consecutive seasons, Griffey Jr. would join that exclusive club the very next year.
Griffey’s Scorpio teammate Pedro Martinez (3,290 / 106.1) takes home the NP Cy Young Award, with a full season points-per-game total bested only by his own performance in 1999 and 2000, plus Clayton Kershaw in 2014 and 2016 (so far, going reverse-chronologically). Pedro’s last year in Montreal saw him post an ERA under 2 with a career best 13 complete games. His Positive Polarity CYA counterpart Roger Clemens (3,401 / 100.0) also reached the 100-PPG plateau, which is all the more impressive, considering that both league MVP’s averaged 20 per game.
The Positive Polarity was absolutely stacked as far as 1997 rookies were concerned. Not only did Leo shortstop Nomar Garciaparra (2,638 / 17.2) win the real-life American League version of the award, Aries third baseman Scott Rolen (2,058 / 13.2) took home the NL RoY trophy. Moving down the line, we have another Leo, pitcher Matt Morris (1,772 / 53.7), and Aquarius outfielder Brian Giles (1,458 / 11.2) before we get to the first Negative Polarity freshman. That player was no slouch: Capricorn centerfielder Mike Cameron (1,409 / 12.1) had a stellar career in his own right. But his debut season left a little to be desired, considering he didn’t even make the Sea-Goats’ starting roster in 1997.
It’s unusual to see the Cancer Crabs excel in anything pitching-related (with CC Sabathia’s two NP Cy Young winning seasons the exceptions that prove the rule), so I was surprised to see Cincinnati closer Jeff Shaw (2,287 / 29.3) win the Reliable Reliever trophy in ’97. Not only that, but Cancer also had the runner up in Milwaukee’s Doug Jones (2,086 / 27.8), the sixth-oldest player in the league that year. The top two Positive Polarity relief pitchers were so close together in 1997 points (and also general career excellence) that it seems right to have Trevor Hoffman (2,128 / 30.4) and Mariano Rivera (2,114 / 32.0) share the top honor, rather than have to relegate one of them to second place.
Next time, as the zodiac wheel rolls over to Leo season, I’ll take a look at some of the more pressing injury situations that are affecting the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League as we enter the height of summer.