All Time Since 1970 New Additions

With the completion of the 1970s, my Fantasy Astrology Baseball project has now spanned five full decades (plus the first two years of the 2020s, but I’m frankly not sure if the planet can support another 10 years of a carbon-hungry lifestyle that allows something like Major League Baseball to exist). But enough doomsday talk (or, as it will soon become known, regular news) - let’s take a look at the new players added to my All-Time Career Fantasy Points database in the 70’s!

We’ve now done this dance three times before: All-Time since 2000, All-Time since 1990, and All-Time Since 1980. So you should be familiar with the fact that players becomes eligible for the database if they make their sign’s starting lineup (or rotation, or bullpen) during any year in the decade in question. So while many of the new additions may have played in subsequent decades, they weren’t fantasy astrology relevant since the 70’s.

I get down on Aquarius a lot, simply because they seem to be towards the bototm of the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League standings every season. But despite this year-to-year team-wide futility, some of the top players in baseball history are Aquarians. We saw this in the 1990’s with all-time strikeout king Nolan Ryan. And now the 1970’s give us MLB’s former home run leader Henry Aaron (52,900 career fantasy points). In fact, Hammerin’ Hank is one of only three players since 1970 to have eclipsed 50,000 career fantasy points, along with his sign-mate Ryan, and the juiced up breaker of his home run record, Barry Bonds. Aaron still leads all players in RBI and total bases, and he did it in an era where the hardest performance enhancing drugs in use were amphetamines and LSD.

Just behind Aaron on the list of new 1970’s additions is another legendary power hitter from Alabama: Taurus center fielder Willie Mays (48,397 career points). The Say Hey Kid survived the Giants’ move from New York to San Francisco in 1958, making 20 straight All-Star teams from 1954 to 1972. If we were building a lineup out of new 1970’s additions, the other corner outfield spot would go to Frank Robinson (42,390), although the Virgo slugger also spent a significant portion of his later career playing first base. This would open up right field for Sagittarian Al Kaline (37,027)… but with Mr. Tiger in the outfield, there would be no space in the field for Lou Brock (34,829) and Billy Williams (33,525), two left-handed hitting Gemini left fielders with vastly different skill sets.

Both of the top new 1970’s pitchers are Scorpios, which helps explain how the Scorpions maintained their overall points lead as we move backwards from All-Time Since 1980 to All-Time Since 1970. It’ll still be two more reverse-chronological years until we get to the best season of Bob Gibson’s career – in 1968, he totaled more than 4,000 of his career 37,061 fantasy points – but Gibby had four outsandings seasons in the 70’s. Gibson’s sign-mate Jim Kaat (34,888) had the longest career of any new 1970’s addition, with 25 seasons; a four-way tie behind only Nolan Ryan and Gemini surgery namesake Tommy John. Strangely enough, after Gibson and Kaat, the next two new pitchers on the database are Libras: Dominican hurler Juan Marichal (34,164) and Kentuckian former senator Jim Bunning (33,585).

I’m not sure if creating a lineup out of new 70’s additions is the best way to go about this, but I feel like I’m committed now. But case in point, Cancer Crab Harmon Killebrew (32,067) would technically slot in at third base – his secondary position, since he was a primary first baseman. But that would keep Taurus Brooks Robinson (28,249), one of the best fielding third baseman in the history of third basemen, off the list entirely. Another Cancer would slot in behind the plate: Joe Torre (24,501), who consigns the career points battle between Jason Kendall (20,780) and Yadier Molina (19,766 as of 2021) to a fight for second place.

The new 70’s middle infield has a distinctly international flair. Shortstop Luis Aparicio (26,443), yet another Taurus, hails from Venezuela, while second baseman Tony Taylor (18,393) was born in Cuba… in mid-late December, making him a Sagittarius. The top new 70’s relief pitcher is Leo Hoyt Wilhelm (28,950), but he made his only 1970s Fantasy Astrology team in the very last year this decade, reverse chronologically speaking. Since Old Sarge just barely qualified, it also makes sense to call out Sagittarian Lindy McDaniel (22,018) for the bullpen. Libra lefty Wilbur Wood (22,603) technically had more relief appearances than starts in his career, but the margin is so slim (45.6% starts) that I feel conflicted classifying him as a relief pitcher.