Five Year Recap 1975 to 1979 Part 2

Last Friday, I began a five year recap into the period between 1975 and 1979. Rather than try to jam all the analysis into a single post, I decided to split it up into two parts. So what follows are the signs from the second half of the karmic wheel, from Libra to Pisces.

If you look at my official 1975 FABL lineups, you’ll see some shenanigans in the Libra department. Mike Schmidt, extraordinary third baseman for the Phillies, is listed at shortstop, on the evidence of 10 1975 games. That opens up third for Eric Soderholm of the Twins, a MINISCULE amount of fantasy points ahead of three-year shortstop Freddie Patek. I’m making the change here to list Schmidt as a five-for-five, because it just makes sense. Dave Winfield also gets the honor as an outfielder, but not a center fielder for all of those years. Dennis Eckersley is the only such pitcher, and it’s a shame that Jim Palmer just missed with an off-1979.

For Scorpio, just strong fielding catcher Bob Boone, another baseball dynasty member, was in the starting lineup all five years in question. In pitching, though, you can’t ask for a stronger ace than Tom Seaver. Steve Rogers is a solid number two, with Gene Garber also around as a closer. (Ron Reed was in the pitching staff all five years, but in an unconventional manner: four as a reliever, and 1975 alone as a starter.

Sagittarius was a hotbed of Cincinnati stars, with Johnny Bench a five-year catcher and George Foster filling in at both the corner outfield and center. Canadian legend Fergie Jenkins also had five years in the rotation, and Dominican reliever Pedro Borbon (father of Pedro) had five years as a top-three bullpen scorer. (Cuban starter Luis Tiant missed the five-year cutoff by one.)

Carlton Fisk and Darrell Porter would end up combining as the only two Capricorn catchers until 1992, when Darren Daulton joined the mix. The ratio is Fisk 14, Porter 3, but the bookends of this five-year period were two of Porter’s three. Steve Garvey had no trouble as a five-year first baseman, as he would extend his streak for the next three, and five of the next six years. Another Steve – Carlton – proved a legitimate ace for not only all five years from ’75 to ’79, but also from ’80 to ’84 – 10 years total!

In 1975, Fred Lynn became the only ever rookie to also win MVP – and he would remain as the starting Aquarius center fielder in all five years of this period. TYIL that Dodgers third baseman Ron Cey was nicknamed “The Penguin,” which I choose to believe is a Batman reference, and therefore I am now a fan. You’ve probably heard of one of Aquarius’s two five-year starting pitchers - Nolan Ryan is the all-time strikeout king, after all. But I would understand If you haven’t heard of the other, as Burt Hooton’s career had significantly less fanfare.

Jim Rice had a less-amazing 1975 rookie season than his real-life teammate Lynn, but he was the starting Pisces left fielder for his first 12 years! J.R. Richard had a solid run atop the Fish rotation, before a brain issue prematurely ended his career. A lot of “almosts” here at the end of the karmic wheel: Dock Ellis and Jack Billingham had four years in the rotation, while Jim Kern and Kent Tekulve were in the bullpen for the same amount of time (the latter also for the NEXT five years).

Stay tuned to this blog and to my YouTube channel, as more Fantasy Astrology Baseball videos are sure to pop up over the course of the season!