2007 Astrology Awards Recap
View the 2007 FABL Lineups Here!
Baseball fans might remember the 2007 season for the epic late-season collapse of the Mets, as the Phillies overcame a 7 game deficit with just over two weeks to go. It’s impossible to tell if the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League had a similar down-to-the-wire divisional chase without doing hundreds of week-by-week calculations, but the two teams at the top finished with point totals that were so incredibly close that it’s basically a tie. The final tally shows Pisces (33,564) leading Taurus (33,523) by just over 40 points, and that could have easily gone the other way if not for some positional eligibility shenanigans. Luckily those teams play in different divisions, so they would meet in the first round of the postseason either way – check out the Gallery to see the projected playoff bracket base on full season point totals.
On the individual side, 2007 represented an offensive explosion, with batters occupying the top SEVEN spots in terms of fantasy point scorers. This was the last time in fantasy baseball history where a pitcher was not represented in the top five, and not only that, there were only four pitchers in the top 30. Since we’re going reverse-chronologically, I’m not sure if this is the end of a statistical trend or an outlier, but it’s something to keep an eye on as we continue through the past.
Not only did I build the sign name at the top, but notice how it says “PP MVP” for Positive Polarity instead of American League (AL).
Another thing to keep an eye on is the record book: Alex Rodriguez’s MVP season (both in the American League and the Positive Polairty) represents the highest-scoring fantasy season we’ve seen so far (again, going reverse-chronologically). His 3,360 points (with a 21.3 points-per-game average) surpasses Justin Verlander’s MVP and Cy Young-winning 2011 by exactly 25 points. Of course we know now (and probably knew then, let’s be honest) that his league-leading 54 home runs, 156 RBI’s, and 1.017 OPS were aided by performance enhancing drugs, but we chose to look the other way.
It’s a shame that the Leo A-Rod and the Sagittarius Jimmy Rollins (3,003 / 18.5) both played in the Positive Polarity, since only one can be awarded the PP MVP. But at least Rollins was able to pick up the real-life National League MVP award for a season in which he became the first player ever with at least 200 hits, 15 triples, 25 homers, and 25 stolen bases (according to the back of his 2008 Topps card). The top two Negative Polarity batters weren’t quite as impressive overall as their Positive Polarity counterparts, but they were closer in point totals. Left fielder Matt Holliday (2,948 / 18.7) and shortstop Hanley Ramirez (2,899 / 18.8) were separated by less than 50 points, and since they’re both Capricorns, I’m tempted to let the sluggers share co-MVP honors.
While there was a dearth of pitchers atop the fantasy point leaderboards in 2007, and a slightly lower top end than in years past, we still have two very impressive Cy Young Award winners in 2007. And what’s more, the FABL’s PP and NP CYA winners mirrored the real-life NL and AL CYA winners, respectively. The Padres fans among you will recognize the former as Jake Peavy (2,735 / 80.4), who led the National League with 19 wins, 240 strikeouts, and a 2.54 ERA. In the junior circuit, CC Sabathia (2,472 / 72.7) took the crown in his last full season with the Indians. CC earned his hardware thanks to quantity more than quality (he led the league in innings pitched and games started), but he would go on to defend his title next season.
In terms of closers with at least 70 innings, J.J. Putz (2,326 / 34.2) entered rarefied air in 2007, allowing only 6.53 runners per nine innings, second only to Libra Dennis Eckersley’s 5.52 in 1990. Putz would win the Reliable Reliever award again in 2011, both wins occurring in a stretch where a Pisces took home the award in five out of six years (and counting, but backwards). Conversely, Takashi Saito (2,084 / 33.1) represents the first time in the scope of this project where an Aquarius took home the Positive Polarity RR award.
There was no question about who were the two best rookies in the league in 2007: Libra shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (2,124 / 13.7) and Scorpio third baseman* (he would move to the outfield the following year) Ryan Braun (2,165 / 19.2). Both sluggers played for National League teams in real life, so only one of them could take home the hardware: it was Braun, who broke Mark McGwire’s rookie slugging percentage record. Unfortunately for Braun, the comparisons to McGwire don’t end there…
With A-Rod setting a new single season fantasy point record, I thought the next post would be a good time to examine the top-scoring players through the 13 years we’ve covered so far.