2019 Astrology Awards Recap
View the 2019 FABL Lineups Here!
Given that 2020 was such an unprecedented year in terms of Major League Baseball seasons, it was also an unprecedented year in terms of fantasy baseball statistics. In a 60-game sample, each player has the chance to rack up only 37.037% of the point totals they could have put up during a usual 162-game season. So you have to go back to 2019, the last year of MLB normality (and indeed the last year of general life normality for so many of us), to look at a more standard Astrology Baseball landscape.
Below is an excerpt from my patented Baseball Database from 2019, showing the 20 top scoring fantasy players. Some reminders on the color-coding: green shading in the Position column indicates rookie status during the season in question. Yellow shading in the name columns means the player was acquired by a new team during the offseason. And Cyan shading in the name columns means that player changed teams during the season. You’ll also see on the far right-hand side, columns for year-end awards. Abbreviations should be self-explanatory, but I track Most Valuable Player, Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, Platinum Glove, and Reliever of the Year, although you won’t see any relievers within the top 20.
Last year, on my old blog (or O.B. for short), I took a look at how these real-world 2019 MLB awards winners linked up with astrological sign representation. But here, I’d like to focus on who might win hypothetical awards based on the formulation of the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League’s two Polarities. This exercise is of course based on total fantasy points, and thus the Negative Polarity MVP would correspond to the real-world National League MVP Cody Bellinger (2,849 points / 18.3 points-per-game). Not only was Belli the top overall offensive point scorer, he also qualified at both first base and center field, positions where the Cancer Crabs were fairly thin. The real-world MLB missed a golden opportunity to allow Astros teammates Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole to share the American League Cy Young Award, but fortunately I can make that happen in the Negative Polarity of the FABL. Verlander (3,250 / 95.6) pitches for the Water sign Pisces, while Cole (3,148 / 95.4) represents the Earth sign Virgo, and it’s interesting to note that both signs share the mutable quality. Also, for future reference, I will start using NP (negative polarity) as an abbreviation, and leave NL for the real-life national league.
I used my rudimentary Photoshop skills to show what Bellinger might look like wearing a silver Cancer Crabs uniform instead of Dodger blue.
Again going by points totals, the positive polarity League (or PP) MVP corresponds to my personal preference for real-world American League MVP Alex Bregman (2,739 / 17.6). In a similar situation to Bellinger, A-Breg’s shortstop eligibility also helped alleviate a third base logjam for his native sign Aries, where Nolan Arenado (2,525 / 16.3) is entrenched at the hot corner. As far as the positive polarity’s Cy Young Award, real-world national league CYA winner Jacob deGrom (2,495 / 78.0) would take the crown, although his Gemini Twins teammate (and 2020 winner) Shane Bieber (2,412 / 70.9) is right on his heels.
Real-world NL Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso (2,456 / 15.3) would absolutely take home the astrology version of this award, as the Polar Bear took over as the Sagittarius Archers first baseman of the present/future. The next three top-scoring rookies also play for PP teams – Leo starting pitcher Mike Soroka (1,886 / 65.0), Aries first baseman Christian Walker (1,784 / 11.7), and Aquarius outfielder Bryan Reynolds (1,690 / 12.6) – and it’s curious that they all play for real-world National League teams as well. You have to go all the way down to Taurus center fielder Victor Robles (1,693 / 10.9) to get a NP rookie, and when you consider his defense, he should be a clear choice for this award. Other Negative contenders include Virgo starter Dakota Hudson (1,553 / 47.1) and Cancer designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (1,552 / 17.8), who took home the AL version of this award in real life.
As far as the fantasy astrology version of the Rolaids Reliever award is concerned, the three best relievers in 2019 were all Positive signs, two of them belonging to Aries: real-world NL award winner Josh Hader (2,149 / 35.2) and late bloomer Kirby Yates (2,018 / 33.6). The third is controversial Aquarius stopper Roberto Osuna (1,934 / 29.3), but just one fantasy point behind him is the Negative League’s top reliever Will Smith (1,933 / 30.7), a Cancerian. Not to be confused with the Dodgers catcher who debuted this year, the elder Smith lost his closer role heading into 2020, despite the fact that he became the first player in NL history to save at least 30 games with a 6-0 record (according to the back of his 2020 Topps baseball card).
Since I can’t go back and consistently or accurately simulate the results of past FABL seasons, I determine league winners by fantasy point totals. Next time I’ll take a look at one of the closest divisional contests of 2019: the Water Division in the Negative Polarity. Fans of Cancer and Pisces will especially want to tune in for this one.