All-Time Since 1980: Fire Division
My All-Time Since 1980 project continues with the Fire Division, home of the second-highest scoring sign of the last 40 years. If you want to see a full list of the signs’ total points, players, and some fun averages, check out my ATS80 hub post here!
Sagittarius leads the Fire Division with the second-highest point total among all players on the database. The Archers got there thanks in no small part thanks to a new top All-Time starting pitcher in Fergie Jenkins. The Hall of Famer and 1971 Cy Young Award winner becomes the highest-scoring player born in Canada, with a very impressive career total of more than 40,000 fantasy points. Coincidentally (or not) the top two players on the Canadian leaderboard are both Sagittarians, as Jenkins finishes ahead of outfielder Larry Walker. The Archers added two more primary starters to their top ten, but Mike Flanagan and Stan Bahnsen each spent a significant portion of their careers as relievers. Speaking of relievers, Steve Bedrosian was the top newcomer in the 80’s, but he’s nowhere near the top three of Mariano Rivera, Lee Smith, and Joe Nathan.
On the offensive side, SAG gained two first basemen who straddle holdover leader Tino Martinez on the career fantasy points leaderboard. Bill Buckner spent the majority of his career with the Cubs, before heading to Boston just in time to make one of the most famous defensive miscues ever, and Cecil Cooper was a big part of some monster Milwaukee teams of the 80’s, including the World Series champs in 1982. Although he’s one of the best hitting catchers of all time, Johnny Bench couldn’t catch Ivan Rodriguez on his sign’s depth chart. There’s a good chance these two could serve as catcher and DH in an all-time starting lineup, which would leave another new 80’s addition, Mike Scioscia, as a defensively-minded backup on the bench.
Left field was another big spot for Sagittarius, who got their first two 20,000 point scorers at the position. George Foster is best known for his time with the “Big Red Machine” in Cincinnati, including winning the MVP in 1977 while leading the NL in home runs, RBI, and OPS. Dave Kingman bounced around the league a lot more – during Foster’s MVP season, Kingman played for FOUR separate MLB franchises – but he put up prodigious home run totals at every stop. In another fun coincidence, Larry Bowa enters the shortstop depth chart two spots behind a player he would later manage in Philadelphia: Jimmy Rollins.
Leo and Aries finished fourth and fifth in terms of total points scored by their players since 1980, but since the Rams are in the bottom four in terms of career points per player, let’s start with the Lions.
While no one is likely to touch Barry Bonds in terms of total fantasy points, Leo gained another all-time great at his position. However, it’s clear that Carl Yastrzemski would shift over to right field so that they could both participate in the All-Time Lions lineup. Whlie Yaz’s grandson Mike is currently in the majors (he’s a Virgo), the next new addition on the left field depth chart, Jose Cruz, saw his son reach MLB in the 90’s: Jose Cruz Jr. played outfield for the Aries Rams. Leo already had a 20,000 point catcher in Jorge Posada, but Hall of Famer Ted Simmons proves that you can never have too much of a good thing. At third base, Graig Nettles BARELY beats Gary Gaetti for the number one spot, despite having lower career points-per-game and points-per-season averages.
While no new pitching additions surpassed Roger Clemens and Max Scherzer, lefty Vida Blue slots in as the #3 starter, both in terms of total career points, and points-per-season average. (Madison Bumgarner and Yu Darvish still finish third and fourth in terms of points-per-game, however.) The Louisiana native put up his best season in 1971, where he won the MVP and the Cy Young Award with the A’s, so he’ll be a fixture on my fantasy astrology lineups as we head reverse-chronologically through the next decade. The only other new starter who surpassed 10,000 career points was Ray Burris, who pitched in relief in nearly 40% of his career games. Leo also got three new relievers just outside the top five: Tom Burgmeier, Greg Minton, and Shane Rawley, who missed qualifying as a primary starter by just 1% of his career games.
If you looked at the Aries All-Time Since 1990 roster, saw Greg Maddux’s 46,298 fantasy points, and though he was secure as the ace of the sign for decades to come, then think again. Because in the 80’s, the pride of Clio, Alabama, Don Sutton burst onto the scene, eclipsing The Professor’s total by just under 400 career points. Maddux hung on to his SP2 slot, but not for lack of competition: 40,000-pointers Phil Niekro and Bert Blyleven were both added to the Aries rotation, making for a top five of 20-year veterans. (Tom Glavine rounds out the staff, with 33,000 career points of his own.) The Rams just missed gaining a new top reliever on a technicality, as Woodie Fryman served as a starter in just 51.5% of his career appearances.
Aries had upheaval all over the diamond, as the 80’s brought new top starters at first base, right field (really both corner spots), catcher, and shortstop. Tops among these new additions is MLB’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose. The Fox Sports commentator primarily played first base, which means he takes over from Miguel Cabrera at that position, but he also played a significant portion of his career games (between 10% and 20%) at second, third, and both corner outfield spots. Speaking of the corner outfield, the Rams got an influx of three right fielders at the top of the depth chart. Rusty Staub just got the tiniest of tastes in the 80’s, where he had already transitioned to playing primarily first base. Reggie Smith also played mostly during the 60’s and 70’s, while Ken Griffey (Sr.) had a career that lasted into the 90’s.
A pair of players with first names that sound the same, but are spelled differently take over for Aries up the middle. Behind the plate, Hall of Famer Gary Carter surpassed Joe Mauer in total career points, despite the fact that the Twins’ hometown hero was better on a per-game and per-season basis. And then at shortstop, Garry Templeton emerges in front of holdovers Shawon Dunston and Juan Uribe. For the record, no one came close to supplanting Adrian Beltre at third base and Bret Boone at second.
In my previous post, I took a break from analyzing MLB.com’s fantasy rankings to return to All-Acquired teams. But next time, I’ll revisit the current state of Astrology Depth Charts.