All-Time Since 1990: Water Signs
So far I’ve looked at the new 1990’s additions to my All-Time database for signs in the Earth and Fire divisions. This post will feature the Water division signs, which are led by Scorpio. The 165 Scorpions players who started on a FABL team through the 1990’s put up 1,827,177 total fantasy points, which is all the more impressive considering only Sagittarius had fewer total players in that span. However, the other two signs had much higher-impact additions in the 1990’s, so I’ll go in opposite order of total points scored.
The top-scoring Water sign to be added to the database for the 1990’s is Pisces first baseman Eddie Murray, who easily beats out holdover Paul Konerko for the All-Time starting role. The Fish also added slugging DH/right fielder Harold Baines, who outscored all Pisces batters so far other than Murray and All-2000’s leader Bobby Abreu. Continuing the theme of African American sluggers, Joe Carter is next, who takes over as the starting left fielder. Number three first baseman Will Clark and new starting shortstop Alan Trammell break the mold, but the next FIVE Pisces players on the list are also Black: Bobby Bonilla (the new starter at third base), Kirby Puckett, Ron Gant, and Darryl Strawberry.
The fifth player of the five I mentioned above is starting pitcher Dave Stewart, who slots in as the new number five in the rotation. D-Stew also won the Negative Polarity Cy Young Award in the last season I profiled (1990), even though he lost the real-life award to his real-life A’s teammate Bob Welch (a Scorpio, see below). Lesser-known pitchers Bill Gullickson and John Smiley occupy spots in the backup rotation (7th and 9th in overall starting pitching points). Meanwhile, the only 1990’s addition to the Pisces bullpen is swingman left-hander Terry Mulholland, who sits behind proven closers Fernando Rodney and Aroldis Chapman on the reliever depth chart.
No new 1990’s addition was able to supplant Derek Jeter as Cancer’s All-Time Since the 90’s top fantasy point scorer, but someone did come agonizingly close. Andre “The Hawk” Dawson was about 3,000 points behind Cap’n Jeets, but he easily takes over as the new starting right fielder from still-active Nelson Cruz. The next highest-scoring batter on this list was also a primary right fielder, in a sense; Jose Canseco technically had more games as designated hitter than in right field, but if you add his time in left field, outfield becomes his most common position. He’d likely serve as DH anyway, leaving left field for Moises Alou, and Torii Hunter in center. Other notable offensive players were Mark Grace, who led the 1990’s in hits, but still finishes behind Carlos Delgado on the first base depth chart, and Tony Fernandez, who provides a solid backup to Jeter at short.
Cancer has been a bat-first sign since I’ve started paying attention, but the 1990’s adds almost a whole rotation’s worth of talent to the roster. While Frank Tanana technically had enough career fantasy points to take over as the number one ATS90’s pitcher, there’s no way I’m not starting CC Sabathia in game 1 of the World Series. Speaking of the World Series, it was towards the end of Dave Stieb’s career when he helped the Blue Jays win a real-life one in 1992. Scott Sanderson isn’t a name I would have known before I started this project, but he was a quiet force for the Expos and Cubs all through the 80’s. My generation would likely know Rick Sutcliffe as a broadcaster, and a darn good one, but turns out he was a darn good player before that too.
The Crabs also add not one, but two new relief aces to slot ahead of holdover Jeff Shaw. Doug Jones got his points more through longevity than electric stuff, but it’s hard to argue with his track record. Speaking of track record, Rick Honeycutt was a starter for a large portion of his career, after which he became a noted pitching coach. Alejandro Pena slots in as the fifth overall relief point scorer, right in front of holdover Jim Johnson. It’s a shame that Johnson finished his career just a few hundred points ahead of Bobby Thigpen, due to the latter’s superior points-per-game and points-per-season averages, because now I can’t include him in the database except as an honorable mention.
As it turns out, the 1990’s weren’t a period of tremendous talent for Scorpio, at least not for talent that didn’t also extend into the 2000’s. The top new addition from the decade in question is Jack Clark, who finds himself behind holdovers Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, Fred McGriff, and Shawn Green at his top two positions of right field and first base. Next on the offensive side are Dante Bichette and Willie McGee, who are themselves behind Ryan Braun and Adam Dunn in left field, and Ken Griffey Jr. and Johnny Damon in center, respectively. Danny Tartabull and Jesse Barfield also made their All-Time database debuts, but were not strong enough to appear on the depth chart.
On the pitching side, Bob Welch had the most career points of any new 90’s additions, slotting in at fourth overall behind Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Jamie Moyer. But in terms of per-game production, Dwight Gooden easily takes the cake, ahead of every Scorpio but the aforementioned Pedro. The next pitcher on the list, Danny Darwin, does technically qualify as a starter, but his career was almost evenly split between starts and relief appearances. The 90’s also gave Scorpio their fifth-highest scoring overall reliever, Greg A. Harris – not to be confused with Greg W. Harris, a Sagittarius who had a much shorter career.